


LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Shelf .^IZA 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



, r 1 * "< JN ^ . 'T^'N 




THE 



Modern Horse Doctor. 



TREATING ON 



Disease and Lameness in Horses. 



GEO. H. DADD, M.D., 

YETKBINABY SUB&EON. 



NEW EDITION. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY DR. GEORGE THURBER. 



ILLUSTRATED. 


















NEW YORK: 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 

751 BROADWAY. 

1883. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by tbe 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



^ 



INTRODUCTION. 



Dr. Geo. H. Dadd was a person of marked individu- 
ality. He was far in advance in intelligence and educa- 
tion of the average " Horse Doctor" of his time, and was 
an inveterate enemy to quackery in the treatment of 
animals. He had the confidence of a large portion of 
the community, and was a successful practitioner. He 
had the ability to inspire confidence, and he was sure of 
an attentive hearing wherever he appeared. His writings 
have the public confidence in a like manner, and they are 
accepted by a large class who prefer them to works of a 
professedly more scientific character. 

Unlike most of those of his time who claimed to be 
veterinary practitioners, he was opposed to excessive 
dosing and relied largely upon patience and the recu- 
perative forces of nature, and he may be regarded as a 
safe guide in the treatment of the ordinary diseases of 
the horse. 

The value of Dr. Dadd's works is attested by the 
steady demand for them, to meet which the new edition 
is now published. 



PREFATORY. 



The author of this work has endeavored to give the 
reader correct ideas of the nature and treatment of dis- 
eases occurring in that faithful servant and noble ani- 
mal, the horse. It is intended to supply the wants of 
that class of agriculturists and horsemen — and their 
name is legion — who are in favor of a more sanative 
and rational system of medication than that recom- 
mended in many works on farriery. Such individuals, 
in consequence of the scarcity of competent veterinary 
surgeons, are compelled to treat their own horses; and 
this work is intended to be to them, in the hour of 
need, one that will enable them to restore the sick 
and cure the lame. 

The author has aimed to be brief, yet practical, and 
has selected, eclectically, from the materia medica, those 
agents which his own experience, during a professional 
career of nine years in the vicinity of Boston, has proved 
to be the most efficacious in curing disease and lame- 
ness — so far as medicine is capable of accomplishing 
those objects; for it is a well-known fact that medicine, 
unaided by nature in the silent operation of the life 
forces, is, in most cases, positively Useless. Some knowl- 
edge of the law of physiology, as it applies to brute 
bodies, is indispensable for the successful treatment of 
disease; and all who practice the veterinary art should 
study that law, not only in view of practising under- 
standing^, but for the more important purpose of pre- 
venting many thousands of unnecessary cases of disease 
7 



8 PREFATORY. 

and premature deaths that are annually occurring among 
all classes of live stock; for many diseases and premature 
deaths follow encroachments on the sanative laws of life. 
The more a man knows of physiology, the less faith has 
he in medicine. He resorts to our great catholicon, 
Nature. Animals, if left to themselves, invariably do 
the same thing; they seek rest and some simple agent 
which their own instinct points out as the Balm of 
Gilead, and they almost invariably recover, except when 
about running their last race. The province of the 
physician is to know when to withhold medicine; for 
many diseases are self-limited, and would, if the patient 
were placed in favorable circumstances, run through 
their various grades up to a healthy termination without 
the use of some of the trash styled medicine. 

Those who wish to practice according to the princi- 
ples laid down in this work must learn to exercise 
patience, and practice a rational expectancy. Nature 
performs all her operations in a series of slow and grad- 
ual changes, and any attempts to hurry her can only be 
accomplished at the expense of the vital principle. 

G. H. DADD. 



CONTENTS. 



PRELIMINARY. 

PAttl 

Ok the Qualifi.. itioiu necessary for the Practice of Veterinary 

Medicine, • 15 

Great Benefits derived from studying Comparative Anatomy 

and Physiology, 22 

Brief History of Veterinary Science, 28 

DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND ITS MEMBRANES. 

Stomach Staggers, 35 

Sleepy Staggers, . * . . 40 

Inflammation of the Brain, 42 

Apoplexy 43 

Vertigo, 46 

Concussion of the Brain, 49 

Lethargy, 61 

Inflammation of the Arachnoid Membrane of the Brain, 51 

Remarks on and Explanation of Vapor Bath, 52 

DISEASES OF THE RESPntATORY ORGANS AND ATR 
PASSAGES 

Pink Eye and Horse Ail, 54 

Spasm of the Larynx, 58 

Laryngitis, 61 

Inflammation of the Lungs 63 

Dropsy of the Chest, 72 

Pleuro -pneumonia, 7fi 

Pleurisy 76 

Consumption, 81 

Strangles, ..... .... .,.....,...,..,..,, 88 



10 CONTENTS. 

Bronchitis, . . 94 

Catarrh, 97 

Nasal Gleet, IOC 

Roaring, 101 

Common Cough, 103 

Tracheotomy, 1 05 

Bleeding from the Nose, 10-5 

Heaves or Broken Wind, 106 

DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 

Inflammation of the Kidneys, 108 

Bloody Urine, 113 

Albuminous Urine, 114 

Profuse Staling, 113 

Inflammation of the Bladder 119 

Suppression of Urine, 122 

DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE CAVITY AND ITS 
SURFACES. 

Bots, 125 

Description of the Horse's Stomach, 130 

Inflammation of the Bowels, 133 

Inflammation of the Stomach and Bowels, 139 

Twisting of the Intestines, 147 

Colic, 150 

Inflammation of the Peritoneum, 154 

Diarrhoea, 154 

Falling of the Fundament 156 

Scours and Constipation in young Colts, 161 

Indigestion, 166 

DISEASES OF THE LIVER. 

Jaundice 168 

Inflammation of the Liver 172 

DISEASES OF THE EYE AND ITS MEMBRANES. 

Inflammation of the Eye, 174 

Cataract, 1*8 

Amaurosis or Gutta Serena, 1 '9 

Bpecifie or Periodic Ophthalmia 181 



CONTENTS. 11 



DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 

Palsy 184 

Locked-jaw, 187 

Springhalt 200 

Hysteria, 203 

Hysteritis, 207 



FEVER IN HORSES. 

Remarks on Fever 207 

Simple Scarlet Fever 213 

Malignant Scarlet Fever, 216 

Typhus Fever, 219 

Putrid Fever, 220 



DISEASES OF THE MOUTH. 

Slavering, 224 

Inflammation of the Tongue, 227 

Wounds of the Tongue, . 228 

Lampas, 228 

Aphthae, or Thrush, 231 

Dentition 231 

Sharp and Projecting Teeth, 231 

Bishoping, 232 

LAMENESS FROM STRAIN AND OTHER CAUSES. 

Observations on Lameness, 232 

Hip Joint Lameness 236 

Lameness of the Stifle Joint, ■ 237 

" « Hock 238 

" « Shoulder, 239 

" " ElbowJoint, , 240 

Curb , 243 

Navicularthritis, 244 

Operation for Neurotomy, 247 

Pleurodynia, 254 

Acute Rheumatism, or Founder 256 

Chronic Rheumatism, " 261 

Spasm of the Muscles, 262 

Splent, 263 

bpavin, 26* 



12 CONTENTS. 

Bog and Blood Spavins, 271 

Windgalls 276 

Ringbone, 276 

Remarks on Strain, • 262 

Strain of the Fetlock 283 

" " Knee, 283 

" « Coffin Joint, 283 

« m Back, 283 

« " Shoulder 284 

Thoroughpin, 284 

Open Joint, 286 

Remarks on Dislocation, 289 

Dislocation of the Neck, 289 

" " Shoulder 290 

" " Hip 290 

M « Stifle 291 

M •* Fetlock, 291 



DISEASES OF THE SKIN AND SUB-CELLULAR TISSUES. 

Grease or Scratches 292 

Hardening of the Skin, 298 

Malanders and Salanders, 299 

Poultry Lousiness, 300 

Rats Tail, 305 

Hidebound, 306 

Falling off of the Hair, 308 

Ringworm, 309 

Swelling of the Legs, 311 

Stings of Bees, 313 

Cutaneous Eruption and Itching, 316 

Mange, 316 

Cracked Heels 317 

Acute Irritation of the Skin, 318 

Sweating, 321 

Warts, 324 

Considerations and Experiments relating to Contagious Diseases, . 325 

Melanosis, . . . , ... 329 



DISEASES OF THE HOOF AND LAMrNE. 

Observations on the Horse's Hoof, . 331 

Treads and Overreaches, 334 

Quarter Crack, 335 

Tf>e Crack 33« 



CONTENTS. 13 

Quitt or 338 

Pumice Foot, 340 

Foot Rot 345 

Corns 34? 

Bruise of the Sole, . 350 

Thrush, 350 

Acute Inflammation of the Feet, (Laminiiis,) 351 

Contraction of the Hoof, (Hoof bound,') 354 

Canker of the Foot, 355 

Cutting, (Interfering,) 357 

GENERALITIES 

Cribbing, (Crib biting,) 357 

Poll Evil, .' 361 

Fistula of the Withers, 363 

Docking, 36* 

Wounds, .' 365 

Incised Wounds, 365 

Contused " 366 

Lacerated " 367 

Punctured " 367 

Penetrating " 368 

Penetrating Wound of Intestine. 368 

•« of the Cheat, 370 

Worms, ■ 370 

Nicking, 372 

Memorization, 374 

Protrusion of the Penis, 376 

Urethral Gleet 377 

Glanders 378 

Farcy, 387 

Wet Packing, 394 

Disinfection of Stables, 396 

On the Use of the Cautery, 398 

Operation of Lithotomy, 399 

Scalded Shorts, , < 399 

Method of administering Medicines to Horses, 400 

Soundness, as opposed to Lameness 401 

Lymphatitis, 412 

On the Gadfly 414 

Medicinal Preparations used in Veterinary Practice, 418 

Posological Table, 428 

Abstract of Seventh Census, 431 

Table of Bones 433 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



MAI 

Skeleton, • 

Stomach and Bowels, 34 

Vapor Bath, 53 

Male Organs op Generation, 109 

Female Organs of Generation, 120 

Stomach, 126 

Bots 126 

Fcetus, 204 

Method o? Slinging a Horse, 233 

Spavins, 266, 267 

Ringbone, < . 267 

A rrARATPs for Fracture, to., ,....♦... 288 

(14) 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



ON THE QUALIFICATIONS NECESSARY FOR THE PRACTICE 
OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. 

The subject to which the author is about directing the reader's 
attention is one of great importance to Americans, both as regards 
their individual and national interests ; for while it contributes to 
the honor and greatness of the one, it advances the interests of 
the other ; and no man, class of men, nor a nation, can feel satis- 
fied that they have done their duty to their flocks and herds, 
the cattle on a thousand hills, the noble war-horse, — the right 
arm of a nation's power on hard-contested battle field:?, — unless 
there are means provided for their restoration when sick, a reme- 
dy against deterioration, and a preventive against empiricism 
and barbarity. The means, remedy, and preventive are com- 
prehended in the veterinary science. 

This science is to the brute just what human medicine is to hig 
master ; and if we estimate the value of the former in exact ratio 
to that of those noble animals which we are so often permitted 
to behold, it must be apparent, to every thinking mind, that a 
science which contemplates so much that is really useful and 
beneficial to the lower orders of creation may be worthy the sup- 
port of the American people. 

In allusion to the veterinary science, the author has no refer- 
ence to the haphazard method which is now practised by many, 
who, without any medical training, or even attending medical 
lectures on the sister art, when there are such favorable oppor- 
tunities, vainly attempt to prescribe for the sick and dying, sup« 
posing that they have inherited medical skill from their ances- 
tors This is not legitimate science. Our art is not acquired in 



16 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

this way ; it is the property of the industrious and devoted stu* 
dent, and from all others it is withheld. Facts in medicine are, 
like the hidden treasures of the earth, only to be discovered by 
patience and industry. 

In order to obtain the necessary knowledge for successful prac- 
tice, some often have devoted a lifetime to it, yet, after all, ac- 
knowledged themselves but feeble children, iu regard to the mag- 
nitude of their professional responsibilities. 

It follows, then, that there is no hereditary road to medical 
truth ; that the necessary knowledge which our art requires as 
un element for its correct practice, can only be attained by un- 
remitting and methodical observation, by years of careful study 
and practice. 

But we refer to a rational system of medication ttunded upon 
the physiological laws of life ; a correct system of therapeutics, 
pathology, and chemistry, without a knowledge of which no man 
can ever practise this science with any degree of credit or success 

Reader, let us reason together. Every qualified human prac- 
titioner enters upon the duties of his profession with an under- 
standing of anatomy, physiology, pathology, and chemistry, and 
has other scientific qualifications, all of which, combined, enable 
their possessor, under the direction of a trained intellect, to under- 
stand the laws of nature ; to comprehend her ways and means of 
sustaining the vital forces, promoting their harmony, and pre- 
venting discord. 

Such an individual possesses a knowledge of what is already 
known, or believed to be so, of the theory and practice of medicine 
in all its details ; his own daily experience confirms the facts or 
points out errors. He treasures up the one and rejects the other, 
and in the investigation of a medical case, the human suigeon 
finds a useful guide to correct diagnosis in conference with his 
patient. The responses of the latter throw considerable light on 
the nature, locality, and intensity of the malady. These advan- 
tages have no parallel in veterinary medicine ; we cannot ques- 
tion our patients, and can only judge of the state of their health 
by physical examination — by the signs revealed. Hence tha 
greater need of preliminary education and tact on the part of 
those who undertake to pi escribe for brutes. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. li 

It may be urged, that much of the information required for the 
practice of our art is acquired by the senses. Then we answer 
that they require cultivation ; the mind must be educated, so as 
to be abl3 to digest the phenomena which constantly occur, in 
every variety of feature and form, throughout the whole range of 
medical diversity. 

Surely, if the qualifications here so briefly alluded to, and 
others not enumerated, are requisite for the successful practice 
of human surgery, how can they be dispensed with in the vete- 
rinary department ? Surely, they cannot ; for they are an es- 
sential element not to be dispensed with. 

The intelligent and thinking husbandman, who, as a matter of 
necessity, has been compelled to prescribe for the ailments of his 
flocks and herds, without the privileges of medical tuition, has 
probably often felt that every new gleam of light which flits 
across his path, only serves to bewilder, and make him better ac- 
quainted with his own want of knowledge and the comparative 
darkness that now exists, where all should be bright and radiant. 

Such, as well as those engaged exclusively in the management 
of horses, prescribe to the best of their ability ; but death has the 
advantage of them, for they know not his mode of warfare, nor 
the means necessary for a successful combat. There are a few 
veterinary surgeons, located in this country, endeavoring to light 
up the dark spots referred to, and serve the cause of humanity ; 
yet, however diligent, when we compare their labors with the 
magnitude of the cause, they bear the same relation to it that a 
grain of mustard seed does to a mountain. 

In every city, town, and village, throughout this great republic 
there is need of veterinary practitioners. We must have them ; 
there are great interests at stake. Some of the interested have 
heard, read of, or their animals have experienced the benefits of, 
a correct system of practice, and now they desire to see such sys- 
tem extend, so that all may receive benefit therefrom. 

The masses, however, have not had an opportunity of judging 
of the merits of this science, in consequence of a dearth of the 
right kind of information, and the scarcity of its disciples. Books 
of authority are as scarce as the latter : of American parentage, 
I hey are few ai d far between ; and this is mortifying to oui 



18 \&£. MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

national pride, especially when we contemplate the universal in 
telligence that pervades all classes of community. There are in- 
tellectual stars in this country, the brilliancy of whose productions 
has astonished the world of literature in every department except 
the one here alluded to, and that is a barren waste — neglected, 
unexplored. Works of authority are those recognized ae such 
by the faculty, written by men whose impartiality, love of truth, 
practical industry, and method have gained for themselves that 
popularity and respect which the author seriously recommends 
to American rivalry. 

It is true we have works on farriery, but they are not of the 
right kind ; they lack merit ; they may be rich in theory, but 
their pages are barren of the practical and useful ; the few golden 
truths that they contain are so mixed up with the sands of erron 
that, in order to distinguish and select one from the other, % 
greater amount of veterinary talent and discrimination is needed 
than usually falls to the lot of those who read. 

"Without, however, casting any reflections on the authors of 
6uch works, who have given to our people the very best proofs 
of their noble natures and philanthropic motives, we observe that 
fliese productions, although the very best they were enabled to 
write, are not what the age requires, or our interests demand. 

If the community wish to peruse a work of authority on lame- 
ness, glanders, or farcy, they must, at great expense, procure 
foreign authors ; they must consult a Percivall, or some sucb 
writer. A horse literature is sadly needed, for we have diseases 
in this country, peculiar to climate and location, that differ some- 
what from those familiar to the nations of the old world. 

The extreme diversities in the climate of the United Statet 
are a frightful cause of disease — a subject worthy the investi- 
gation of all men ; especially does the subject demand attention 
from those who would boast of the sanitary condition of their 
flocks and herds, for it is only by comparing the diseases of 
locations most dissimilar in their character and temperature, that 
the most useful illustrations of morbid influences are to be ob- 
tained. 

We ask, Where are our statistical tables of disease? peculiar 
'© this country ? And echo answers Where ? 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 19 

What do we know practically of the cause and nature of the 
various forms of influenza, commonly called pink eye, horse ail, 
Sec ? The same may be said of milk sickness, pleuro-pneumonia, 
and many other diseases that we might name. We know noth- 
ing — absolutely nothing. 

Milk sickness is a disease that at times prevails in the West- 
ern States, to such an alarming extent, attended with such a 
frightful mortality, that it has served as a cause to disband a whole 
community. A reward of several thousand dollars has been 
offered by legislative authority, to be given to that individual who 
shall first discover and make known the cause of the disease. 

But the reward has never, to the author's knowledge, been 
claimed. Diseases of the lungs are so rife in the United States, 
that, if we except old age, two thirds, or perhaps one half, of the 
losses experienced by owners of stock in the death of horses and 
cattle, result from diseased lungs. 

Pneumonia is a common form of disease among horses, and great 
skill and discretion are needed in order to bring it to a favorable 
termination, for it often laughs to scorn the puny efforts of man 
however well directed. It requires the very best skill for its 
treatment, because the organ involved is one whose function 
gives life and action to all the other organs. It performs the 
very last act of digestion, which is the decarbonization of the 
blood ; and modern physiologists inform us that the lungs play a 
more important part in the circulation of the blood through the 
arterial ramifications than the heart itself ; which has heretofore 
been considered the only source of circulation. Be this as it 
may, no organ, when deranged, requires so much skill in its early 
stage as this — early, because the delay of a few hours may 
prove fatal. A mistake in the diagnosis, or a wrong medicine 
administered, may place the patient beyond the aid of man. 

You may call on the veterinary surgeon in the latter stages 
of the disease, and, as often happens, after the patient has been 
pretty well dosed ; but it is too late ; the animal has passed the 
Rubicon, and has entered within the boundaries of the valley of 
death. 

It is necessary, therefore, to be able to detect this disease in 
ite primary form, before it has completely invaded the citade« 



20 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

of life. But how many are there in these United States thai 
can diagnose a disease of this character ? Not one hereditary 
doctor in a hundred can do so with any degree of certainty ; yet, 
to such a state of perfection are auscultation and percussion now 
arrived, that the qualified can detect a lesion of the lungs with 
astonishing precision. Almost every change that takes place 
within those organs can now be detected by the surgeon with 
remarkable exactness. And a regularly educated veterinary 
surgeon would dishonor his profession, and likewise impart a 
withering influence to his future operations, if he were found 
wanting in this particular. So that the qualifications needed, 
not only for the management of this, but every other disease, 
should be of the first order ; for it is a fact that the losses from 
acute diseases are far greater than they ought to be, and these 
losses are felt by the hard-working farmer, and by those who de- 
pend on the earnings of horses for a living ; and they certainly 
must hail as a great blessing any attempts to introduce an im- 
proved medical literature, and a rational system of practice that 
6hall remedy the great evils which now exist. 

The author now proposes to give the reader some idea, by a 
single illustration, of the absurd and positively injurious tendency 
which many of our present works on horses have. In a work 
on the horse, lately published in the city of Boston, we read, 
that a disease of very frequent occurrence, named ringbone, 
is an enlargement fed by a bladder ; and no doubt the author 
thought so, or he would not have written it ; for he was a high- 
minded man, much opposed to violence and unnecessary medica- 
tion in the management or treatment of horses. Well, this error 
in reference to the nature of the disease was not of such great 
account ; but it led to the infliction of a useless and painful op- 
eration. The extraction of this bladder is there recommended. 
An operation is to be performed in a portion of the structure 
highly organized, and, of course, susceptible to great pain, to ex- 
tract the bladder, which has about as much to do with the real 
malady as the reader has with the rising and setting of to-mor- 
row's sun. But whom have we to extract this bladder ? The 
author undertakes to answer for the profession. No educated 
surgeon can te found willing to disgrace the art, and belie hu 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 21 

conscience in the practice of so absurd and cruel an operation, 
No ; the nature of the disease, and the changes which the parts 
ur dergo, from exostosis to anchylosis, (see article Ringbone,) are 
so clearly demonstrated in works of authority, and so well illus- 
trated on dissection, that no doubt exists in the minds of the 
faculty regarding the disease. 

There are many other kindred errors existing in like works, 
bui our limits prevent their exposure ; we have chosen to allude 
to this particular case, because we have within a few days seen 
an article in one of our most respectable journals, recommending 
also the extraction of " the bladder, by which the ringbone is fed," 
for its cure, and that every three out of four cases operated on 
were cured. 

What they mean by cure possibly amounts to the same thing 
as when speaking of the cure of spavin, that the lameness after a 
time disappears. (See Spavin.) The freedom from lameness in 
some cases of ringbone results from the superior and inferior pas- 
tern bones becoming united, (anchylosed,) thus the action of the 
joint is forever destroyed. This, forsooth, is the cure ! When 
anchylosis can be cured, we shall be able to boast of reversing 
nature's laws. 

Some of our readers may think that there is no practical bene- 
fit derived from allusions to the unscientific customs of past days. 
But when we come to consider that the veterinary art has, in this 
country, progressed in a circle ; that our domestic animals are still 
the subjects of misguided notions peculiar to the dark ages; that 
cruelties which have had their day of reproach are now being 
enacted over again, even under our own eyes ; this is our apology 
for alluding to the past, so that we may improve in the future. 

We live in an age when the little we know of the veterinary 
art is a mere item of what we should know ; for such knowledge 
can be made an instrument in the hands of philanthropic men for 
the benefit of all classes of creation. 

The important discoveries made of late in Europe, in the sev- 
eral departments of veterinary medicine, are indicative of the ago 
in which we live. Americans must not be behind the age ; their 
interest, pride , and patriotism should arouse tlem to a sense of 
heir indifference, and consequent dependence on other nations 



^ THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

for veterinary knowledge. In conclusion, we observe, that th* 
veterinary science has to be built and reared on facts, recorded 
facts, the result of practical experience, for the understanding is 
incapable of acting on innumerable facts from the memory alone : 
hence our need of the written experience of scientific men. Such 
writings furnish the practitioner with the power, aided by his 
own observation, in discriminating between maladies which are 
often confounded, to the great injury of the science. 

It is useless, therefore, to suppose that the veterinary art can 
>e acquired at the forge, plough, or in the stable, without prelimi- 
nary education ; and then but very few could spare the time to 
study the art and produce records of their experience. The 
length of time necessary for it, the intellectual labor, and the 
weariness of such pursuit, are obstacles not easily surmounted. 
Every one to his trade, then. In order to understand how the 
veterinary science is to be studied, so that men can comprehend 
its legitimate object, — the why and wherefore of disease, and the 
modus operandi of medicine, — we must have the same facili- 
ties here that now exist in Europe within her veterinary uni- 
versities. 

There are hundreds and thousands of young men in these 
United States undecided what to do for a living. We say unto 
such, Come over and help us, for " the harvest is ripe, but the 
laborers are few." Now is the time to come to the rescue, and 
carry out the intentions of the veterinary art, and thus change the 
current of public opinion in its favor. 



GREAT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM STUDYING COMPARATIVE 
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 

1 If medical men have been guilty of gross errors, it is because they have neg 
lected to dissect brutes." — Galen. 

With a view of showing how much human medicine is in 
debted to comparative investigation? on the bodies of animals, lei 
us briely consult the records of the past. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR 2«J 

History informs us that most of the ancient and modern prac- 
titioners who have distinguished themselves in their profession 
and gained the confidence of mankind, have always paid more 01 
less attention to the dissection of brutes. Thus, in the language 
of Mr. Vines, " they have transplanted to the medical profession 
the honor of discoveries that were made in trenching on the terri- 
tory of the veterinary science" " And," continues the same author, 
u it is not to the study, the treatment, and cure of animal disease 
alone, that this science is strictly confined. Second only to human 
medicine in actual importance, it possesses considerable advantage 
over it, and offers opportunities for the cultivation of general path- 
ological and physiological knowledge, and more particularly for 
that important branch termed comparative anatomy, that are far 
superior to any thing that medical practitioners can boast of." 

In the early period of the history of medicine, it has been 
recorded that dissections of the human body were held in strict 
abhorrence ; and when we contemplate what we observe in our 
own enlightened day and generation — how medical teachers have 
often been compelled to resort to illegal means in order to pro- 
cure the necessary material for demonstrating to their pupils the 
science of life, and that the authority of the law, and the more 
formidable one, public opinion, has been arrayed against the gen- 
eral practice of dissecting the bodies of men — then we are pre- 
pared to realize how much odium the ancients must have attached 
to the practice. 

From the quotation above, the reader will perceive that 
Galen attached great importance to the dissection of brutes, and 
his followers, up to the present day, have, to some extent, carried 
out his suggestions. 

Reading on through the pages of the history of the past, we leant 
that those small lacteals, termed absorbents, which are so numer- 
ously distributed over the internal surface of the alimentary 
canal, by the aid of which the blood is furnished with the neces- 
sary material for supplying the waste, developing and preserving 
the animal organization, were first discovered in kids. Those 
wonderful pieces of divine mechanism placed within the heart. 
and known to anatomists as its valves, were first discovered 
in animals by Erasistratus, who also discovered the oesophagus. 



24 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

The fallopian tubes, a portion of the female organs of genera 
don, were also discovered in a ewe. Galen demonstrated in 
Rome, on living animals, the organs of sound and respiration. 
He also showed on them the effect produced by ligature on the 
nerves. 

Vesalius proved, by experiments on animals, that it was 
possible to restoie suspended animation by artificial inflation of 
the lungs. This discovery is one of the most important, and has 
resulted in as gieav good to the human family as any like dis- 
covery made before or since. See the fond and anxious mother 
bending over the cold and apparently lifeless form of her darling 
boy, who has just been recovered from the watery element ! 
Witness her agony as sne contemplates what appears to her as 
a bereavement; and now, hope — the anchor of her soul — is 
aroused, as she watches, with a mother's anxiety and love, the 
efforts made by the medical attendant, who is now repeating the 
experiments of Vesalius. His labors are rewarded. Nature 
resumes her empire ; and anon signs of returning animation ai 8 
perceived, and the mother shouts with frantic joy, " He breathes I 
He lives!" 

Are there not thousands of fond parents and anxious friends 
that have been benefited in a similar manner ? 

Those organs termed the salivary glands, which secrete a por- 
tion of the fluids necessary for the digestion of food, were first 
discovered in an ox, by Eusfeachius, who subsequently discovered 
in a horse the thoracic duct. 

Dr. Wren made several experiments on living animals, to be 
assured of the effect of different substances on the blood and solid 
parts. This truly valuable discovery has been one of great im- 
portance to the whole world, for it was then made known that, 
through the medium of the lacteals, (absorbents,) lacteal veins, 
and thoracic duct, inorganic materials reached the blood, and 
finally became deposited in the cellular and solid structures. 
This discovery has enabled us to explain in what manner the 
elements of nutrimental matter reach their ultimate destination. 
It further enables us to explain the why and wherefore of the 
alteration in the color of the cow's milk when fed on beets or 
saffron, and also the cause of that offensive taste in pork when 



*CE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 25 

fed on the rotten recrements of cities. In short, lacteal absorp- 
tion gives us the modus operandi g£ many medicines on the 
systems of man and animals. 

Observations on taste and feeling were first made oq brutes, 
and afterwards verified on man. The lachrymal ducts were 
first discovered in the eye of a sheep, and the excretory duct of 
tlie pancreas was discovered in a turkey. 

Bernard and Spallanzani discovered the antiseptic properties 
of the gastric fluid in the following manuer : they obtained some 
of that fluid from a stomach, mixed it with an equal quantity of 
putrid blood, and then allowed them to stand together for eighteen 
hours ; the mixture was then injected into the jugular vein of a 
dog. The mixture produced no inconvenience ; and being aware, 
before making the experiment, that any putrid matter, on being 
injected into the blood of a living animal, was sure and certain 
death, the conclusion they arrived at was, that the gastric fluid was 
endowed with the power of neutralizing the deleterious action of 
the putrid ferment, thus depriving the morbid matter of its poison- 
ous properties ; and this conclusion has been frequently verified. 
This discovery was also of great value in more ways than one ; 
but it enabled us to explain why animal matters in a state of 
putrefaction, when introduced into the stomach, do not always 
prove destructive. The reader, probably, knows that the dog, 
wolf, and many other carnivorous animals are fond of putrid flesh, 
and that some men, even, have a craving for game in a partial 
fctate of decomposition, and they all seem to digest such filth 
with very little inconvenience. 

Another equally important experiment was made by Magen- 
die on a dog. He injected fifteen grains of blood into the jugulai 
vein of the animal. The effect was, great disturbance of the 
functions of the brain and circulation, and the animal died in 
twelve hours. 

Another experiment was performed. The same physician 
introduced two drachms of putrid water, in which fish had been 
kept, just underneath the skin, and the animal died almost im- 
mediately. Such experiments speak to us in a warning voice , 
they teach us to be careful how we trifle with putrid matter. 
We may introduce it into the stomach, provided that organ be in 
3 



26 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

a healthy state ; but the moment it comes in contact with the vital 
current by other means, that very moment life is endangered. 

It was from experiments on animals, made by Drs. "Wren 
and Boyd, that led to the transfusion of blood ; for shortly after 
those experiments, a Frenchman transfused the blood of a human 
subject into the veins of another, and it is recorded that several 
lives have in this way been saved. 

[n the course of transfusing the blood of one animal into that 
of another, it was discovered that what are termed the globules 
of the blood were uniform in all animals of the same species, and 
yet presented different forms in animals of different tribes. In 
man, the particles of blood presented flat disks, resembling pieces 
of money, having a slight depression. In birds, reptiles, and 
fishes the disks were oval, instead of being round, and instead of 
being depressed in the centre, they were elevated on each side. 
From this experiment it was argued that the fitness of the blood 
cf one animal to the uses of another of a different species de- 
pended on the formation of its globules. Experiments have 
frequently been made to test the truth of this theory, and it has 
been found to be correct. An eminent physiologist has remarked 
that, " in order to arrive at an explanation of what is obscure in 
man, we must look to the lowest and simplest forms of creation. 
For though in man is combined, in a wonderful and unequalled 
manner, all the functions which separately exhibit themselves in 
various other animals, he is not the most favorable subject for 
observing their action ; hence we are obliged to refer to a num- 
ber of other tribes for the assistance we gain in the study of their 
comparative structures. There is not a single species of animal 
that does not present us with a set of facts which we should never 
learn but by observing them in such species, and many of the 
facts ascertained by the observation of the simplest and most 
common animals." 

Yet in view of all these discoveries, and the consequent 
increase of knowledge, there is yet much to learn. Instead of 
being at the summit of the temple of science, we have only just 
surmounted some of the obstacles that surround its base, and ere 
long, phenomena of the most surprising nature yet remain to bfi 
lisoovcred, and fresh laurels are to be won by the industrioud 



THK MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 27 

and devoted physiologist. At the moment of writing this article, 
intelligence has reached us, that inoculation for the mitigation 
of pleuro-pneumonia is being practised in France, Holland, and 
Prussia, and the respective governments of these countries have 
appointed commissions of scientific men to inquire into the success 
and value of the practice. The inoculations are made under 
the conviction that pleuro-pneumonia is highly contagious, and 
spreads itself from this cause, as well as from the special causes 
of the extension of epizootic diseases. What takes place in the 
system of cattle after inoculation is identical with that observed 
in man when inoculated with virus. The operation in each case 
engenders a peculiar state of the system, which, without impart- 
ing the disease itself to the subject, gives immunity against the 
several causes that produce it. If the experiments shall ulti- 
mately prove successful, we may safely say that no discovery of 
equal importance to the husbandman has ever dawned upon the 
veterinary science. In the United States, however, this fearful 
disease is not so prevalent as in various other countries. This 
arises in consequence of our cattle and horses being scattered 
over a much larger territory, and our cities being compara- 
tively exempt from the causes which are said to produce it ; yet 
enough losses occur here to arouse us to a sense of the danger. 

It may be proper, however, to inform the reader, that the 
reports of the commission to the several governments are some- 
what contradictory, and the novel enterprise has met with some 
opposition ; but this is the history of many improvements of 
the past ; therefore, we must not be hasty in forming our con* 
elusions. 

The advocates of inoculation declare that it i3 of equal im- 
portance to vaccination in the human subject. Who knows but 
in a short time that dreadful scourge in this country, known as 
milk sickness, or trembles, may be disarmed of its terrors by the 
same process ? Not only milk sickness, but many other con 
tagious diseases, may, perhaps, be made to assume a mild and 
innoxious form. 

As the subject is a new one to the husbandmen of this country, 
the author may be pardoned for introducing an illustration of 
the benefits derived from inoculation. " The town of Hasselt, in 



'it THE MODERN HOUSE DOCTOK. 

which are kept two thousand cows and oxen, is a town full of difr 
tilleries, and these animals are fed on slops and grains. From 
the situation, want of drainage, and accumulation of filth, adde? 
to the imperfect system of ventilation, management, &c, the 
location may be considered as the very centre and focus of a dis- 
ease like pleuro-pneumonia." Since the year 1836 the town has 
never been free from the malady, and many hundreds of animals, 
daring the past sixteen years, have fallen victims to it, and the 
town is now said to be free from the pest ! 

Finally, the few distinguished men here named, and others, 
too numerous to mention, animated with a desire for knowledge, 
have availed themselves of the opportunities afforded for reading 
the book of life as it is written by the hand of Omnipotence in 
the series of animated creation, and the benefits which all have 
derived are incalculable. 



BRIEF HISTORY OF VETERINARY SCIENCE. 

The veterinary science, like that practised on man, was first 
called into existence by necessity ; the many diseases to which 
domestic animals were subject, and to which they, too frequently 
fell victims for want of proper professional knowledge, and tl.e 
great loss which agriculturists experienced in consequence, led 
tham to seek for a remedy. 

In the year 1761, the first veterinary school was established at 
Lyons, under the patronage of government, whose fostering care 
the infant school for a time received. At the commencement of 
this embryotic enterprise, the populace looked on with indifier- 
ence ; but many of the liberal and scientific men of that day saw 
in the enterprise a boundless field for research, a broad road to 
usefulness and distinction, and many eagerly embarked in it with 
unflinching perseverance, overcoming every obstacle, with a view 
of making known those laws regulating the vital forces of domes- 
tic animals. 

The fruits of their labors are bequeathed as a legacy te the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 91) 

profession, and the names of the first cultivators of veterinary 
6cience are inscribed on the tablets of their country's history as 
public benefactors. 

Four years after the endowment of this, the first school in 
France, a similar one was established at Alfort. A regular sys- 
tem of veterinary medicine was there taught, under which students 
acquired an acquaintance with the various forms of disease, and 
the modus operandi of therapeutic agents on domestic animals. 
The novel enterprise was regarded by other nations of Europe 
with a watchful, eye, and they were not slow in coming to the 
rescue ; schools rapidly sprang up in Holland, Berlin, Copen- 
hagen, Stutgard, and in various other places, which proved 
equally successful and beneficial as the French schools. 

We shall now pass over a period of twenty-seven years, during 
which time the science had gradually enlisted in its ranks men 
of influence, talent, and research. And now an individual of 
French descent, named St. Bel, lands on the shores of England, 
having letters of introduction from the first men in France to Sir 
Joseph Banks and other influential individuals, to whom he 
made known his mission ; which was, that of establishing the 
veterinary science, then unknown, and of course unappreciated, 
in the British dominions. 

He was encouraged, with very flattering assurances of success, 
to commence operations, and shortly after his arrival in London 
he published proposals for establishing a veterinary school ; there 
Beemed, however, to be a sort of indifference manifested among 
the masses, and consequently very little, beyond making known 
hi9 object, was effected during the first year. In the following, 
he published proposals to read lectures on the science, and thus 
give the English nation an opportunity to judge of the value of 
the new project; but, alas! he was doomed to disappointment; 
his second proposal met with no better success than at first. The 
apparent failure of his primary labors has been attributed, by an 
eminent writer, to various causes, and it may be well for us tc 
Dotice them, for the very same causes have been, and are now, in 
active operation, diverting American skill and intelligence frocj 
embarking in a cause so worthy the attention and support of a 
free and enlightened nation It was in consequence of the 
3* 



80 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

character of those who presumed, without the necessary qualifi* 
cations, to practise the art, that the English husbandmen refused 
to put their shoulders to the wheel, and receive the offered boon 
That country had been visited by diseases of a pestilential type, 
which had made sad havoc among the stock, and had swept them 
from the green hills and verdant valleys, as by the blast of a tor- 
nado. Their horses, too, did not escape the arm of the destroyer ; 
they were constantly suffering and dying from insidious forms 
of disease, the history and characters of which were almost 
unknown. This state of things, together with the unfortunate 
occurrence that there were no legitimate practitioners, had opened 
a wide field for adventurers and quacks, whose barbarous sys- 
tem of medication, probably, was the cause of many deaths. 
These practitioners., in lieu of better, were taken as standards, 
and the people had, to a great extent, formed an estimate of the 
value of this art in exact ratio to the talents of the village farrier, 
and in proportion to the success that attended his labors. This 
is precisely the state of affairs in America. 

St. Bel gives us another reason for his failure, but it amounts 
to nearly the same thing. He says, " The opulence of England 
offered a wide field for impostors of foreign origin, by whom the 
nation was daily imposed on, and repeated experience of such 
impositions naturally excited distrust towards foreigners in gen- 
eral ; and because honesty of views was not written on his face, 
patience and perseverance became his only resources." 

At this stage of affairs St. Bel was fortunate enough to make 
the acquaintance of a gentleman who had a decided taste for the 
art, and who eagerly responded to the views of the professor, 
and bade him not despair of ultimate success ; assuring him that 
by setting the matter in its right light before the people he would 
soon obtain all he desired. This assurance inspired St. Bel with 
new hopes, and he immediately issued a pamphlet of some twenty- 
eight pages, entitled, Plan for establishing an Institution to 
cultivate and teach the Veterinary Art. This pamphlet wa* 
well received, and several agricultural societies paid the writer 
handsome compliments, and conferred on him honorary distinction. 

During the year 1790, several meetings took piace between the 
members of agricultural societies and gentlemen favorable to the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 31 

cause ; till, at length, active measures were adopted for promoting 
the object. A resolution to this purport was now passed, which 
read as follows : " That the parties had observed the good effects 
produced on the public mind by the exertions of the friends to 
the art, for its improvement, and approved of St. Bel's plan for 
establishing a public institution for that purpose." The result 
was, that an institution was soon endowed, which was named 
''The Veterinary College of London," to which St. Bel was 
appointed professor. But unfortunately, that distinguished indi- 
vidual had scarcely occupied the chair one year, when a sudden 
and brief illness terminated his mortal career, and he was con- 
signed to the silent tomb ere the laurels had scarcely encircled 
his brow. 

Being thus cut off at such an early period, yet in the midst of 
his usefulness, the prospects of the infant institution became 
greatly affected — only for a short season, however. The college 
was considered to be in a flourishing condition ; the Duke of 
Northumberland had already contributed a sum equal in our cur- 
rency to twenty-five hundred dollars, and the enterprise num- 
bered among its stanch supporters such men as the Earl of 
Grosvenor, Mr. Penn, Earl Morton, Drs. John Hunter and Craw- 
ford, and subsequently that great surgeon and medical hero, Sir 
Astley Cooper. 

Medical men hailed the new enterprise as one not only calcu- 
lated to ameliorate the condition of suffering domestic animals, 
but, what was of still greater importance to them and mankind, they 
perceived in it a fruitful field for the cultivation of comparative 
anatomy and physiology. "With this object in view, Dr. J Hun- 
ter assisted the friends of the new school both by his professional 
influence and from his private purse. 

Although the college had been in existence but a brief period, 
its pupils had gained sufficient knowledge of theory and practice 
to distinguish themselves ; thus fully realizing the anticipations 
of its founders. Among the first pupils who sought to qualify 
themselves as efficient veterinary practitioners, we find recorded 
the names of Laurence, Blain, and Clark. Each of these philan- 
thropists has since left to the world a record of their labors, whicb. 
even in this enlightened age, serve as useful guides to the young 
■isoirant for veterinary famo. 



82 TH* MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

The professorship made vacant by the death of the father ol 
this science, St. Bel, was conferred on Mr. Coleman, who had 
previously devoted himself to physiological research ; he, toa 
soon distinguished himself, and the college again assumed ity 
former nourishing condition. A medical committee was now 
appointed, consisting of some of the most eminent practitioners 
that the country could boast of, by whom the pupils were exam- 
ined, and when found to have acquired sufficient knowledge of the 
art, certificates were granted accordingly. We are informed that 
tliis medical examining committee were lecturers of human medi- 
cine, and with a liberality that reflected great credit on them, 
permitted the veterinary pupils to attend their lectures on human 
anatomy free of charge. Thus did a band of really great and 
good men unite their efforts and interests, for the study of the 
Bcience of life in all its diversity and forms. By this wise asso- 
ciation of the sister sciences, its advocates aimed a death blow at 
the ignorance, quackery, and superstition of the times, and they 
were successful to some extent; for a new order of practitioners 
took the field ; they soon demolished the old landmarks set up by 
the ignorant farriers, and erected in their stead beacons of light : 
thus spread the illuminating rays of science broadcast, and the 
public, as well as their domestic animals, were benefited thereby- 

Professor Coleman had now succeeded in securing the patron- 
age of government — the strings of the public purse were loos- 
ened, and the parliament voted a sum of money, to be paia 
annually, for the support of the college. It is related also, thai 
the reigning monarch, George the Third, granted the rank of 
commissioned officers to such veterinary graduates as wore 
intended as surgeons to the cavalry regiments. 

The Honorable East India Company, observing the good 
effects produced by such appointments, was likewise induced to 
follow the example of their monarch in appointing veterinary 
surgeons to serve in their armies in India. Other nations have 
thus followed the example set them by France and England, so 
that regular veterinary surgeons may be found in all the four 
quarters of the globe. 

In England, at the present day, veterinary students rapidly 
increase; never were they so numerous; recruits arrive from 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 33 

p/very quarter, to enlist in the army of scientific veterinary medi- 
cine, and ere long human practitioners must look to the laurels, 
or they will be snatched from their brows. 

The advantages under which the veterinary art can now be 
studied in England, France, and Germany are not inferior to 
those of the most favored university ; and such astonishing dis- 
coveries, through the aid of chemistry and the microscope, are in 
such rapid succession surprising the medical world, and so splen 
did are the achievements in the departments of veterinary 
surgery, that the noble sons of -ZEsculapius — our brethren of the 
human school — are watching the labors of their kindred spirits 
with no ordinary interest. 

Such is the brief history of our art ; much interesting matter 
might be added, with a view of enlisting the sympathies of Ameri- 
can philanthropists ; but the author feels assured that the time is 
soon to arrive when the people of this country will unite with 
their brethren of the old world in a hearty cooperation for the 
amelioration of live stock. 



EXPLANATION OF CUT. 



1. 1, 1. The three coats of the stomach ; generally described a&fvur. 

2. (Esophagus or gullet. 

3. Region of the cardiac orifice of the stomach. 

4. Muscular coat of the stomach. 
6. Cellular and mucous coat. 

6. External coat, or peritoneal tunic, reflected over. 

7. Region of the pyloric orifice. 

8. Great convex border. 

9. Concave border. 

10. Fundus, or great cul-de-sac. 

11. Small cul-de-eac. 

12. Representing the nerves of the stomach. They carnot, however, be 
shown to much advantage in this view ; as the cerebrospinal and sympathetii 
form various plexuses within the chest, and interchange fibres ere they reach 
the diaphragm, where they form two branches, termed inferior and superior { 
oae goes to the fundus, and the other to the pyloric end of the stomach. 

13. Duodenum, or second stomach, as it is sometimes called. 

14. Bilary and pancreatic ducts. 

15. Small intestine, known as duodenum jejunum, and ileum. 

16. Terminating portion of the ileum, at the junction of the caecum and ooloa 

17. Caecum, or blind gut. 

18. Colon. 

19. Rectum. 

20. Anus. 

21 . Sphincter muscle of the anus. 



34 



THE JJlODEKKi HOUSE DOCTOtU 




STOMACH AND BOWELS. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 89 

DISEASES OF THE BRAIN AND ITS MEMBRANES. 

STOMACH STAGGERS.* 

This is a disease very prevalent in this section of the United 
States, and probably originates in derangement of the stomachs 
1'he latter organ is united to the brain in the ties of sympathetic 
relationship, through the medium of the great sympathetic nerve ; 
and whenever the stomach becomes overburdened, and there- 
fore incapable of performing its normal function, it communicates 
the intelligence to head quarters, — the brain, — and soon sympa- 
thetic relations are established, and the brain, as it were, becomes 
secondarily affected. 

Disease of this character seldom, if ever, attacks horses when 
due care is exercised in regard to dietary management. A very 
celebrated author has said that this disease never occurs ex- 
cept by the fault of those who have the management of the horse. 
It sometimes arises from giving a horse too much provender, 
after he has been kept too long without food, and in the interim 
worked hard, or driven fast. At other times, a horse may get 
loose during the night, and so gorge himself that the stomach is 
Incapable of contracting upon its contents, or in any way perform- 
ing its function ; in such cases, the walls of that organ are often 
ruptured. 



* A stomach surcharged with food, without any accompanying tympanitic dis- 
^«ntion, does not appear to occasion any local pain, but operates with that kind 
of influence upon the brain which gives rise to symptoms, not stomachic, but 
cerebral ; hence the analogy between this disease and staggers, and the appel- 
lation for it of ' stomich staggers." The unnaturally filled stomach produces, 
for the first time, a sense of satiety ; the horse grows heavy and drowsy, re 
poses his head upon the manger, falls asleep, and makes a stertorous noise 
All at once he rouses from his lethargy, and violently thrusts his head against 
the rack or wall of the stable, or any thing, in fact, that happens to oppose 
iim, and in this posture paws with his fore feet, or performs the same action 
with them as he would were he trotting, evidently all fhe while unconscious of 
what he is about. His eye, which a'i first was full of drowsiness, has now ac- 
quired a wild, unmeaning stare, or has already become dilated and insensible 
to light. The respiration is tardy and oppressed; the pulse slow and sluggish 
the excretions commonly UiLuaished. — Hippopathology. 



30 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

Not long ago, a firm in this city (Boston) lost three valuable 
horses, in the course of six weeks, from stomach staggers, brought 
on by the hazardous experiment of making the victims subsist 
on two meals a day, one at five o'clock in the morning, and the 
other after work at night. The experiment was not from pecu- 
niary motives, but because the stable was so far distant from the 
owners' place of business that it was inconvenient to drive the 
horses there. 

On the death of the first horse, some one possessing a knowl» 
edge of the facts in the case, and understanding that sudden 
changes of this character in diet were sure to terminate in stag- 
gers, represented the matter to one of the partners in business, 
T.ho, however, treated the affair lightly, and remarked that 
many of his acquaintance kept their horses on two meals a day, 
making up for the loss of the noon meal by giving them double 
allowance at night. On the death of the second, which was a very 
valuable animal, from a disease that had never before prevailed 
in their stable, the proprietors themselves began to doubt the ex- 
pediency of dispensing with the noon meal, and therefore ordered 
the horses to be driven home at noon ; but ere the order was ex- 
ecuted, a third horse had gone the way of all horseflesh. Some 
eighteen months have since elapsed, and the survivors, who hava 
enjoyed their three meals a day, are in good health. The dis- 
ease was thus timely arrested. 

Those of our species, who, after protracted abstinence, in- 
dulge too freely in the luxuries of the season, can call to mind 
their sleepy, unpleasant sensations, headaches, Sec, can, proba- 
bly, realize what a horse suffers from an empty, overloaded, 
or disordered stomach. From these and other facts whicL 
might be adduced, we may safely conclude that the disease is of 
Stomachic origin. 

The disease, having once manifested itself, is very apt to re- 
turn, and for the simple reason that precautions are not taken to 
guard against a relapse. So soon as the animal appears better, 
and craves food, he is bountifully supplied, and returns almost 
immediately to work ; even before the stomach has had time to 
recover its equilibrium. The animal soon becomes a conlirmod 
dyspeptic, and is saddled with an incurable disease. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 37 

A horse, therefore, having once had an attack of staggers, 
should be fed with great care and regularity ; care must be ex 
ercised in regard to the quality as well as the quantity of the food ; 
for, unfortunately, the course pursued by practitioners — althougb 
those of the present day have improved somewhat — leads 
to prostration and debility ; and in order to place the animal in 
a condition to sustain the living principle and ward off future 
attacks, we must furnish him nutritious food, from which albu- 
men may be extracted with as little expenditure as possible of 
the chemico-vital forces of digestion. 

A horse fed on hay and grain that is deficient in nutriment — 
of inferior quality — is liable also to be the subject of staggers ; 
so that the disease does not always arise from the same exciting 
cause. It is well known that much of the pasture land in this 
country abounds in rank weeds and poisonous herbs, which, if 
partaken of by a horse already enfeebled by disease, are sure to 
operate unfavorably on some portion of the digestive apparatus. 
Therefore it need not seem strange if some horses, even at grass, 
should have an attack of staggers. 

Symptoms. — The dull, sleepy appearance and staggering gait 
of the animal are symptoms not to be mistaken, and as almost 
every horseman prides himself on his ability to detect a case of 
this character, we shall now, therefore, come to the treatment. 

Treatment of Stomach Staggers. — If the patient is known, or 
even supposed, to labor under dis'tention of the stomach, the 
most rational course to pursue, instead of bleeding and purging, 
is to excite the digestive organs — to secrete the fluid destined for 
the solution of its contents. Yet, in cases where the stomach is 
gorged — packed full — and distended beyond its healthy capaci- 
ty, and there is reason to suppose that, in consequence of tl fi 
over-distention, some of its muscular fibres are lacerated, or a 
loss of continuity has taken place, the treatment then will be of 
no avail. We excite the stomach, therefore, in simple disten- 
tion, to pour out its gastric fluids for the solution of the albumi- 
nous and gelatinous constituents of its contents, so that by the 
withdrawal of these we afford more room for the reduction to a 
state of fine division that portion of the food which remairn. 
We want room in the stomach for the reason that the solvent 
A 



88 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

action of the gastric fluid is aided by the least movement of the 
walls of the stomach, and without successive contractions and 
relaxations of the muscular fibres of that organ we cannot insure 
prompt digestion. 

If we can only effect the reduction of a small portion of the 
alimentary mass, something has been done likely to benefit our 
patient ; for, although, in consequence of obstruction to the py- 
loric orifice, that portion of food which is now reduced to a 
homogeneous mass cannot move onward through the alimentary 
route, yet nature finds a way to get rid of it through another 
channel. It is known to physiologists, that a portion of the nu- 
tritious matter, dissolved by the gastric fluid, is at once absorbed 
into the blood vessels of the stomach, and never passes into the 
intestinal tube, nor into the special lacteal system. 

With the above object in view, we administer remedies of a 

stimulating and antiseptic character. 

Take pure pulverized capsicum, 
" common salt. 

To half an ounce of the former add four ounces of the latter ; 
rub them together in a mortar, and drench the horse with one 
fourth, in a small quantity of water, at intervals of ten or twenty 
minutes, until relief be obtained. 

A solution of pepsin (which is obtained from the washed 
stomach of a cow, calf, or pig) might possibly act on the contents 
of a distended stomach in much less time than any other agent ; 
for, at the ordinary temperature of the body, it is a powerful 
solvent. 

It seems strange, when we take into consideration that the 
action of the gastric fluid, both in and out of the stomach, is 
purely of a chemical nature, that practitioners do not avail them- 
selves of chemical aids, (either the hydrochloric, acetic, or lactic 
acids,) which are the real solvents detected in the gastric fluid, 
rather than to resort to bloodletting; for however well calcu- 
lated such evil doing may be to deprive the vital machinery of 
blood, it cannot relieve the stomach of a load of semi-digested 
food. It is the doctrine of the schools that any thing having a 
tendencj' to overflow the brain with blood may be considered as 
a cause for s f aggers, and the idea of the brain, in such cases 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 89 

being surcharged, probably first led to the use of the fleam. If 
the brain be in a state of congestion, there is a cause for it — a 
distended stomach ; relieve that of its burden, remove the cause, 
and phe congestion will disappear. 

After the animal has swallowed several doses of the capsicum 
ana salt, and seems to improve, we may then venture on a dose 
of cathartic medicine, with a view of carrying off the superabun- 
dant carbon; whereas, had the cathartic medicine been given 
before the stomach had resumed its digestive function, — which 
is now presumed to have taken place, — it would have done more 
harm than good. The author admits that he was formerly in 
favor of early purging, that is, so soon as the disease manifested 
itself; yet a few years of practical experience has weaned him 
from the hobby ; and what contributed most to produce this 
change in practice was, that by making several post mortem ex- 
aminations of subjects which had died from staggers of this descrip- 
tion, and who had been pretty essentially dosed by advice of the 
neighbors, he often found in the cardiac portion of the stomach a 
mixture of salts, aloes, castor oil, &c, which had not reached the 
Bensitive tissues of this organ in consequence of its distended 
state, and the pressure kept up from within by the enormous 
bulk it contained. In some cases, on removing the food, a por- 
tion of the living membrane of the stomach would peel off. So 
great pressure had the food been submitted to in some cases, 
that it was about as firm as a Dutch cheese, and the stomach en- 
veloped it with drum-like tightness. There might have been eo 
help in such cases ; but, as we have said, the post mortems have 
changed our views as to the treatment of the malady now under 
consideration. 

Rarely, if ever, any bad consequence follows the exhibition of 
cathartic medicine when the vessels of the brain are surcharged, 
provided it be given as here recommended, for it matters not 
which of these articles — aloes, croton farina, salts, or castor oil—- 
are given: they all act on alimentary surfaces as mechanical 
irritants, exhaust the fluids of the parts, and tend to draw 
blood from the brain, and thus favor the more equal distribution 
of that fluid. 

Catharsis once established, the bowels should be kept soluble 



40 THE MODERN HOESE DOCTOB. 

with green feed or scalded shorts. Superpurgation may be im 
mediately checked by a few doses of charcoal, or a small quanti- 
ty of bay berry bark and ginger ; but if our subject be plethoric 
no fears need be entertained of over purging from an ordinary 
dose of medicine. See Cathartic Medicine, or Physic Mass. 

Should stomach staggers attack an over-driven or over-ridden 
horse, he never having manifested any cerebral or digestive de- 
rangement, nothing more is needed than rest, kind nursing, and 
A light diet. If he recover at all, he will be more likely to do so 
under the judicious promptings of a humane man than by any 
oth^.r course. 

On the other hand, a debilitated, hroken-dovn subject must be 
put on a course of tonic medicine, alterative also in its character. 
The following serves as an example : — 

Powdered gentian, 

" golden seal, I , . , 

grains of paradise, f ot eactl l ounce ' 

" sulphur, J 

Oatmeal, 1 pound. 

Mix. Divide the mass in twelve parts, and mix one with the 
fodder, night and morning. 

The next form of this kind of disease has received the appel- 
lation of 

SLEEPY STAGGERS. 

This disease is named sleepy from the fact that its most charac- 
teristic symptom is that of coma or somnolency. The subject 
may be surrounded by all the noise and confusion of a city 
stable, yet, in the midst of this, and at any time, day or night, 
will fall fast asleep with his mouth full of fodder. On arousing 
lnm, he evinces some alarm ; yet almost immediately, and while 
■landing by his side, he is off into what appears to be a sound 
nap. 

There are other features in the case that enable the observer 
to make out a diagnosis, such as stertorous breathing ; slowness 
of respiration ; slow, soft pulse ; amaurotic eyes, (generally 
closed ;) the head either drooping or pressed forward into tho 
crib. In most cases the excrement is hard and knobby ; *bf 
irine scanty. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 41 

The disease probably originates in derangement of the stom 
ach and its associate digestive organs. It is very apt to termi- 
nate fatally, either from effusion or extravasation. 

Treatment. — Here we are at fault, not having been very suc- 
cessful hi bringing such cases to a favorable termination. Wt 
remember one case, however, that was considered hopeless and 
by way of experiment we administered the unwarrantable Jose 
of half a pound of lobelia, expecting at the same time that it 
would cause his death ; but, contrary to our expectations, he re- 
covered. The remedy was followed up by stimulating injections 
and cold water bandages around the head. 

The lobelia seemed to have no other effect than to produce 
profuse perspiration, and this suggested the idea of placing such 
patients in a vapor batfi — an idea that we have not yet been able 
to carry out. There is no doubt, however, that nauseating medi- 
cines, in conjunction with the warm bath, will do as much to 
relieve congestion in the horse as they have accomplished in 
human medicine. 

If we had nothing but simple congestion to contend with in 
the treatment of this malady, our success would be more certain ; 
but cases now and then occur when some morbid change takes 
place in the structure of the brain, so that our treatment avails 
nothing. The treatment most likely to succeed in a curable case 
consists in the administration of nauseating medicines. One 
drachm of lobelia, with half the quantity of bloodroot, may be 
given in warm water every hour. A dose of cathartic medicine 
should be administered in the early stage of the disease, fol- 
lowed by injections of salt and water. Counter irritation may 
also be of service when applied to the extremities. 

Cathartics and nauseants must be our sheet anchor, and should 
be repeated until a free evacuation has taken place ; for they 
have a tendency to lessen the force of the circulation, and conse- 
quently relieve the brain. The author is well aware of the 
difficulty encountered in administering medicine to horses labor- 
jng under disease of the brain and its investing nn mbranes ; the 
danger too, both as regards the person of the physician and the 
life of the jatient, must be taken into consideration ; for there are 
times when the patient is unable to swallow, and if we should 
4» 



42 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

then insist on forcing down a drench, a portion of it might enter 
the air passages and choke him. The attendant is at times in 
danger of personal injury from the animal's suddenly falling ; 
but these suggestions apply more to those forms of disease 
known as 

INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. — (Phrenitis.) 

This form of disease corresponds to that recognized by human 
j-ractitioners as brain fever. In the horse, the disease, frequently, 
in its last stages, assumes so violent a form that veterinary prac- 
titioners have denominated it mad staggers. The animal is not 
rabid, however, but frantic ; now rearing on his hind legs, the 
fore ones are plunged into the crib ; he extends the head as high 
as possible towards the ceiling, and then, as quick as thought, 
furiously dashes himself against the stall, or on the floor, where 
he lies panting for breath, in a perfect state of delirium. At 
other times, convulsions will follow each other in quick succes- 
fiion ; the animal pants, perspires, and foams at the mouth, as if 
he were about to breathe his last breath ; and a happy release 
from his sufferings would it be, if at this stage the vital spark 
were to vacate its tenement ; but, unfortunately, he is often doomed 
to suffer for hours, and sometimes days, ere death takes place. 

Treatment. — The treatment of mad staggers must be con- 
ducted on the same principles as in the preceding disease. We 
must embrace the most favorable opportunity ; and perhaps 
while the animal is down will be the best time to administer the 
following drench : — 

Pulverized aloes, 7 drachms, 

" assafcetida, 2 " 

Hot water 1 pint. 

This medicine should be followed up, at intervals, with dosea 
of salt and water ; two ounces of salt to one pint of water, grad- 
ually diminishing the quantity of salt until purgation sets in, 
when it should be discontinued. Injections should be thrown 
into the rectum every four hours, composed of 

Powdered lobelia, >..-„ „„ , „.,„„„ 
oloodroot, f oieacalounce ' 
Hot water, two or three quarts. 



THE MODERN HOUSE DOCTOR. 48 

A counter irritant, consisting of mustard, cayenne, and vinegar 
may be applied to the chest. The head must be kept cool with 
water. 

If the bowels do not respond to the aloetic drench, after wait- 
ing a reasonable time, it will be advisable to give three or four 
drachms more. There need be no fears of superpurgation ; and 
if that should be the result, it could not do much harm. " Pur- 
gation in mad staggers has ever stood in such high repute among 
Carriers, that a common saying among them is ' Purge a horse 
with staggers, and you cure him ; ' and this, like many other old 
veterinary adages, appears to have been founded in sound obser- 
vation. In fact, it is a practice pursued by every surgeon in 
cephalitic cases, with the twofold view of removing any source 
of irritation or cause for the head affection that may exist within 
the bowels, and of indirectly abstracting blood by derivation and 
discharge." — Hippopathology, p. 20. 



APOPLEXY. 

The immediate causes of apoplexy are, compression of the 
brain from congestion of its blood vessels ; or by an effusion of 
blood, or serum, (water,) into some portion of the cranial cavity ; 
or from tumors, which compress some portion of the medullary 
substance of the brain. Congestion, and subsequently effu- 
sion, may be brought on in subjects predisposed to the disease, 
by any thing that determines the afflux of blood to the head ; or, 
in other words, by any thing that disturbs the equilibrium of the 
circulation, and prevents the free return of blood from the brain. 

There are various exciting causes which tend to produce san- 
guineous apoplexy ; for although the immediate cause seems to 
be an excess of blood in the vessels of the brain, this may be 
brought about by an overloaded state of the primae viae.* In 
•uch cases the symptoms somewhat resemble those of stomach 
staggers ; the animal appears drowsy, feeble, and is constantly 
tanging or resting his head in the crib. 

When apoplexy proceeds from fluid within the ventricles of the 

* The stomach and intestinal tube are so called 



44 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

brain, besides other symptoms, there is a disposition to tear up 
or fall backwards, when any one attempts to handle the head. 

Should apoplexy proceed from tumor within the cranium, it 
seldom, if ever, admits of perfect recovery. 

Symptoms of Sanguineous Apoplexy. — The horse generally 
falls down suddenly, and remains in a state of insensibility ; the 
breathing is laborious, the eyes are fixed, glassy, and amaurotic 5 
the membranes of the eyes, nose, and mouth are highly injected, 
oftlimes of a purple color ; the veins of the neck are distended, 
the pulse is strong, full, and slow ; the whole muscular system is 
occasionally affected spasmodically, and the limbs are icy cold. 

Treatment. — Our first business is to endeavor to arouse the 
patient out of his lethargy Some strong spirits of hartshorn 
should be held to the nostrils, while one or two persons are 
engaged in rubbing the external surface with stimulants ; mus- 
tard and vinegar must be used pretty freely to the limbs, followed 
with hard rubbing and stimulating injections. If through these 
means we should be successful in bringing the patient to a state 
of consciousness, the next object should be to evacuate the bow- 
els : our usual drench in such cases is, 

Powdered aloes, . 6 drachms. 

" assafcetida, 2 " 

" lobelia 3 " 

To be mixed in warm water, sufficient. 

Before this drench is administered, the practitioner must sat- 
isfy himself that the patient has so far recovered as to be able to 
swallow, or the medicine may prove a death warrant. If the 
apoplectic fit be only the effect of plethora from high feeding arid 
want of proper exercise, this treatment will generally succeed, 
We have had occasion, however, in a few cases, to follow up the 
drench with salts, dissolved in a bucket of water, which our 
patients generally drank. The after treatment consists in feed- 
ing the animal with great care ; and the best means to prevent a 
recurrence is tc let the animal run to pasture. 

Dr. White refers to a case of apoplexy " that was considered 
hopeless, and not worth any further attention ; yet as it was sup- 
posed that blood had been effused on the brain, the. horse was 
trepanned, (a portion of the skull removed,) and an opening 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 46 

umdc in the dura mater, or outer membrane of the brain, which 
was immediately followed by a considerable effusion of blood 
in about ten minutes after the operation, the horse got up, and 
being led to his stall, began to feed immediately. He continued 
apparently well for several days, but died a fortnight after the 
operation." * 

Tracheotomy, which consists in making an incision into tha 
trachea, and then introducing a hollow tube for the animal to 
breathe through, has received the advocacy of some. On p. 
26, Hippopathology, the following paragraph occurs : " Troche' 
ototny. On no animal is this operation practised with more 
facility than on the horse ; neither are the consequences of it 
such — though it may, now and then, leave the animal a roarer — 
as to deter us from practising it in any case in which important 
benefit is likely to accrue from it. Dr. Physic, of Philadelphia, 
first suggested its performance in hydrophobia ; and Dr. Marshall 
Hall has recently advised a trial of it in cases of apoplexy. His 
words are, ' In apoplexy from congestion, I am persuaded that 
the fatal event might be averted by the timely adoption of 
this measure ; the patient dies of asphyxia, — (cessation of the 
pulse,) — and of an asphyxia which tracheotomy would, I believe, 
prevent.' " 

The author has no faith in the trephine for the cure of con- 
gestion, although it might give temporary relief, as in the above 
case. The instrument has been called into requisition in cases 
of compression of the brain, from fracture of the skull, and with 
decided benefit to the patient ; but in apoplexy the case is far 
different ; the blood is loaded with carbon, the respiratory organs 
are unable to imbibe a sufficiency of oxygen to decarbonize it, 
and therefore if we were to remove the whole of the skull by 
trephine, we should be just as far off as ever in unloading the 
vital current of its defiling burden. There is no way, that the 
author knows of, by which the blood can be vitalized, other than 
that which takes place in the lungs through the admission of 
oxygen ; therefore tracheotomy, which provides for a due supply 
to the lungs of pure air, holds out more certain advantages 
than the former >peration. 

• White' 9 Dictionary 



16 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

VERTIGO. — (Megrims.) 

Horses are, now and then, attacked with a sort of gidiinese, 
which is apt to come on while going fast ; the animal all at once 
commences shaking his head, staggers, reels, and stops short ; if 
permitted to rest a while, he recovers, and travels on as if nothing 
had happened. 

The vertiginous symptoms are very apt to return ; therefore a 
horse having once had an attack must be managed with caution ; 
he is certainly unsafe for either saddle or chaise ; but with due 
care in regard to stable management and work, he might be used 
with some degree of safety in a four-wheeled vehicle, for, if then 
he should fall, the occupants might escape without injury, other- 
wise they would not The disease is generally supposed to be 
connected with some pathological state of the brain or nervous 
system, and must therefore be considered incurable so long as 
that organ or system remains in a pathological condition. 

The treatment of vertigo, or megrims, as it is sometimes called, 
does not reflect much credit on us, neither is it at all times satis- 
factory to our employers ; for so soon as the horse returns to work, 
the same causes which produced a previous attack are again in 
operation, and soon produce a subsequent one. Our first object 
is, to act on the digestive surface by means of a full dose of physic. 
Some mustard, moistened with vinegar, should be rubbed along 
the neck, on each side, near the head. Some practitioners recom- 
mend setons through the temples, or along the nape of the neck ; 
others blister the head. Bloodletting is generally resorted to for 
most diseases of the brain ; with what success the reader may learn 
by consulting the text books. The practice, however, lacks the 
sanction of the new school and our own humble advocacy. We 
have seen some benefit derived from the daily use of an anti- 
spasmodic draught, composed of 

Powdered gum assafoetida, . ... 1 drachm, 

Sweet spirits of nitre, 2 drachms, 

Thin gruel, ... 1 pint. 

To be given so soon as the bowels have responded to the purge, 
and to be continued until the patient appears better. 

This treatment we have found efficient to prevent a reattack 
for a longer or shorter time, depending, however, on the man» 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 4'' 

ner in which the horse is kept and used. Good grooming, light 
diet, clean stables well ventilated, and light work, are among the 
best means for warding off an attack of this, which is generally 
considered an incurable disease. 

" By vertigo is meant a chronic disease of the horse, chiefly 
indicated by a disturbance of the sensitive faculties, occasioning 
derangement in the ordinary functions of life. Much that is in-' 
correct has been written regarding the seat, properly so called} 
of the evil : at present, most veterinary surgeons are agreed 
in seeking the proximate cause, not as formerly, in the brain, but 
in the abdominal organs, and in considering the cerebral affection 
as purely secondary. The vertigo often succeeds acute ence- 
phalitis, the intensity of which has diminished to a certain degree ; 
but very frequently also it comes on without having been pre- 
ceded by inflammation of the brain. It recognizes the same 
causes as the latter, isolation, confinement in hot and badly aired 
6tables, cold, extreme fatigue, blows and injuries on the head, 
indigestion, unwholesome or too much food in proportion 
to the exercise taken. The fear of punishment, especially of 
the whip, occasionally gives rise to it in sensitive and irritable 
animals. Some horses have an hereditary predisposition to it, 
and mares are considered more subject to it than stallions. Fur- 
ther, it is scarcely ever observed except in hot weather, and as it 
is generally at the beginning of summer that it commences to 
appear, it goes away always in autumn, at least with respect to 
its chief symptoms. These are the following: the horse, a little 
before lively and active, begins all of a sudden to appear heavy 
and indolent ; he is dejected, and prefers to keep himself in the 
darkest corner of the stable, eyes dull, look fixed and stupid 
eyelids half shut, inattention to every thing, forgetting even him- 
self, and, as it were, asleep, and head hanging to the ground, and 
resting on the manger, or on the rack. His gait is heavy, slow, 
and unsteady ; he raises the feet very high, and puts the entire 
uole to the ground, raising and letting down the limbs in a man- 
ner purely mechanical, and, as it were, unconsciously. He ex- 
hibits much awkwardness in turning, and cannot be pulled back 
except by depressing the head very much, and pushing it laterally. 
Generally, also, he leans on one side in walking. To main/am 



48 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

his equilibrium the better, he places the fore legs beneath the 
belly, and moves his ears in a peculiar manner, and backwards. 
According as the disease progresses, he becomes less and less 
sensible to external impressions ; mastication is performed slowly 
he takes from time to time a mouthful of food, masticates it, 
6wallows a portion of it, but keeps the remainder in his mouth. 
He prefers taking his food off the ground rather than in any other 
way, and when drinking he plunges his head into the water, even 
above his nostrils. During and after some rather violent move- 
ments, his symptoms become much aggravated, and the signs ot 
complete insensibility become more and more marked. The ani- 
mal runs on quite blind till some obstacle stops him, or turns round, 
or remains tranquil, when, with his head depressed, and the legs 
crowded beneath the body, without being able to change this 
unusual attitude unless assisted to do so. There is never any 
fever : the pulse is often from ten to twelve pulsations slower 
than in the normal state. 

" In the same way, also, the respiration is constantly slow, deep, 
and frequently of a sighing character. In almost all cases the 
tongue is foul, and the mouth dry and clammy. With respect to 
treatment, the remedies which have succeeded best with me are, 
camomile (some doses), then sulphur, and nux vomica. In a 
particular case where, independently of the symptoms peculiar to 
vertigo, the conjunctiva, tongue and mouth were more yellow, 
the horse frequently flexed his fore legs, seldom lay down, faeces 
hard, and passed but little urine. I obtained benefit from the 
use of nux vomica, with sulphur as consecutive treatment. Others 
used pulsatilla in general : however, they also obtained good 
effects from veratrum album in many cases ; nux vomica was 
employed with the horse inclined to the left, and arnica when he 
leaned to the right. Several horses have been cured by means 
of belladonna ; and one, which was considered as lost, was saved 
by giving him belladonna, hyoscyamus and nux vomica. The 
utility of digitalis and opium has been verified in slight cases of 
veitigo, in which cases benefit has been derived from arnica 
On one occasion veratrjm album was prescribed during four 
days, twice a day, and then stramonium, employed in the same 
manner ; on the fifth day the animal was cured. It is always 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 49 

advisable to have recourse to sulphur as consecutive treatment." 
— Veterinary Homoeopathy, p. 127. 

CONCUSSION OF THE BRAIN. 

The bony structure — which encloses the cerebral orgaas— 
is so wisely adapted for their protection, that injuries of this char- 
acter are somewhat rare : a very few cases have come to our 
knowledge during nine years' residence in Massachusetts ; but we 
have never treated but one, and that may be termed a mild case. 
The subject was a bay gelding, nine years old, blind in the off eye 
from cataract ; he had been left opposite the " Revere House," 
harnessed to a furniture wagon, when some person threw a lighted 
cigar on him ; he then ran across the street, and was suddenly 
brought up by striking his head against an iron railing; he fell 
on the pavement, and lay there for some time in an insensible 
condition, almost pulseless, and the respiration scarcely discern- 
ible. He was unharnessed, and the bystanders attempted to raiso 
him up ; but he had lost all control over the muscles of voluntary 
motion, and drooped his head as though he were dying. The 
horse having received a wound just above the left orbit, from 
which the blood was trickling down, it was supposed that the 
skull was fractured, and the owner was just thinking about de- 
spatching him, when, all at once, he rose on the fore legs and 
squatted on his haunches like a dog. After remaining in this 
position a short time, and making fruitless efforts to get up, he at 
last, under assistance, rose, and after a good deal of trouble, 
reached the proprietor's stable. 

Our attention having now been called to the patient, we found 
him scai cely able to stand ; pulse about 50, full and jerking, 
respiration hurried and somewhat laborious ; the body bedewed 
with a cold sweat; the pupil of the sound eye was dilaled; the 
head drooping, and inclined to the nigh side. On exploiing the 
wound, neither fracture nor injury to the bones could be per- 
ceived ; it was therefore brought together by stitches, and dressed 
with " Turlington's Balsam" 

So soon as the horse had been rubbed dry, a preparation, con- 
wsting of equal parts of tincture of lobelia and capsicum, was 
5 



50 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

applied along the back and to the chest ; the legs wert hand 
rubbed until reaction took place, and they became warm, then 
bandaged. A cold water bandage was applied to the head, and 
the body covered with a buffalo-skin. 

It will be seen by this preliminary treatment that the object 
was to equalize the circulation, so as to prevent congestion of the 
brain ; and in furtherance of this object, a stimulating clyster wai 
administered, all of which seemed to have a good effect. 

Not thinking it prudent to risk an antispasmodic draught, the 
patient was placed in a well-bedded " wide stall," and suitable 
directions given for his management during the night. 

On visiting the patient next morning, the symptoms had slightly 
improved, and he drank half a bucket of water containing twenty 
drops of the tincture of arnica ; four hours afterwards were ad- 
ministered 

Powdered aloes, 6 drachms, 

" assafoetida, .... 1 drachm, 
Thin gruel, 1 pint. 

He took, during the day, a small quantity of scalded shorts, 
forty drops of tincture of arnica, and four gallons of water. 

On the evening of the next day, made a visit to the patient , 
found him with the head still drooping ; the parts in the region of 
the wound were somewhat tumitied and hot ; the pulse was soft 
and less frequent ; the bowels had slightly responded to the medi- 
cine ; in short, the general appearances were indicative of improve- 
ment. Directions were given to sponge the head, more particu- 
larly the wound, with a weak mixture of arnica, (one ounce of thf 
tincture to a quart of water.) The diet to consist of thin grueL 
In view of remote counter irritation, a paste, made of mustard and 
vinegar, was rubbed on each side of the chest. 

The above includes about all the treatment ; the mustard was 
washed off the next day, and for a few succeeding ones the diet 
was sparing ; the head in the mean time was kept bathed when- 
ever it became hot. The patient returned to work about a fort- 
night afterwards. 

We learned from the owner ihat the animal had been in hia 
possession about five years, during which time he was never known 
to lie down, nor did he do so during this sickness. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 51 

It may be of some service to the reader to be informed thai 
counter irritants should not be resorted to in the early inflamma- 
tory type of cerebral disorder, for they are always painful to the 
horse, whose skin is so highly sensitive, and the stimulation or 
irritations are always reverberated to the affected organs, and 
also occasion more or less excitement to the whole system* 
Therefore they should not be resorted to until some general treat- 
ment ha3 been adopted ; they will then be of much use in divert- 
ing the internal local irritations to the surface, by which means 
the internal tissues are relieved. 

LETHARGY. 

This is a mild form of apoplexy, and arises either from a con- 
gested brain, or may be occasioned by an overloaded stomach. 

Gibson says, " When a horse falls into a lethargy, he generally 
rests his head with his mouth in the manger, and his poll often 
inclined to one side ; he will shew an inclination to eat, but for 
the most part falls asleep with the food in his mouth, and seldom 
chews, but swallows it down ; unless he is roused, he presently 
falls asleep again. If a horse continues any time in this state, he 
falls into an atrophy or general decay." The best remedy for 
this pathological condition is a long run at grass. Lethargy ia 
probably only another name for sleepy staggers, (which see.) 

INFLAMMATION OF THE ARACHNOID MEMBRANE OF THE 
BRAIN. — (Arachnoiditis.') 

This membrane is situated between the dura and pia mater; 
the former is situated within and next the cranium, and the latter 
is in immediate contact with the brain ; so that the arachnoid 
membrane lies between the two, and extends to the termination 
of the spinal marrow. It is a very difficult affair to diagnose cor- 
rectly a disease occurring in a membrane so obscure and slightly 
organised as this is known to be, and it requires considerable 
stretch of the imagination to conceive how this membrane can be 
the special seat of inflammatory action without involving its assc« 
\iate tissues, and even the brain itself ; and even should the t?i8« 



02 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

ease be unaccompanied with inflammation of the brain, which U 
rarely the case, we know of no special means of treating it other 
than those recommended for inflammation of the brain. A 
French writer, however, informs us that acute arachnoiditis '8 
occasioned by loss of continuity, or lesion of that membrane, from 
which result staggers and water on the brain. 



REMARKS ON AND EXPLANATION OF VAPOR BATH. 

The following cut, representing a horse in a vapor bath, will 
appear somewhat novel to Americans, as we are not aware that 
any thing of the kind has ever been got up in this country 
Indeed, JVJr. Percivall, from whose work the illustration and ex« 
planations have been transcribed, expresses his surprise at the 
introduction of this apparatus, even at so early a day as the 
present, in a country too where improvements are continually 
progressing. We hope that ere long this useful article may be 
extensively used in this country, for every practitioner must 
have occasionally felt the need of it. 



EXPLANATION. 



a represents a boiler originally erected for the purpose of supplying the 
infirmary with hot water ; c is the main pipe issuing from the top of the boiler, 
reueiving the steam, and conducting it, when not required for other purposes, 
Into iither a flue or the open air at b ; e and f are branch pipes from the main 
one (c\, f being that which conducts the steam into a worm (A), winding 
tiiTough a condensing trough (ff) ; e the branch pipe which conducts the steam 
(prevented by stop-cock from going in the other direction) into the bath : 
the place of admission (m) being on one side, close to the floor, at a point inter- 
mediate between the horse's fore and hind feet while standing in the bath, with 
his head outside ; m is the bath, being a horse box, such as is used for embark- 
ing horses on board of ship, with the addition of a lining of flannel, a roofing 
of hoops and tilting, and curtains over the doors, front and back, to prevent 
the escape of steam. The box, being placed upon wheels, serves, besides being 
used as a bath, for the transport of sick or lame horses ; and, having doors at 
both ends, and a movable platform for the horse to walk in upon, is in general 
entered without any great deal of unwillingness. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



53 



> 

o 

> 




54 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY ORGANS AND AIR PASSAGES 

PINK EYE AND HORSE AIL.* — (Influenza ) 

It will be seen that very little idea can be gained of the nature 
di the disease under which the subject suffers from the above 
lenus ; they have their meaning, however, among horse dealers. 
Any affection of the respiratory organs, from laryngitis to influ- 
enza, strangles included, are all considered under the above head 
by some. The disease we propose to enlighten the reader on in 
this article is influenza; that veritable disease which usually 
attacks green horses, as they are called, shortly after their first 
introduction to city life, although it may occur in the country as 
well as the city. The time of its appearance is generally in the 
ppring, when horse dealers crowd the city stables with sale horses. 
This is the most trying period of a horse's life, and generally 
tests his metal. The sudden change from a pure atmosphere to 
one contaminated with ammoniacal gases, and other injurious va 
pors, also the change of food, water, and habits, are calculated to 
impair the health of even an old stager, whatever might be their 
effect on a young horse. If he can withstand these incursions on 
the sanitary laws of his existence, and at the same time pass safely 
through an attack of " pink-eye" — influenza, — and come out right 
side up, his owner can confidently recommend him to any pur- 
chaser as one having been through the mill. 

We do not wish the reader to confound influenza with catarrh 
or strangles, (which see ;) although influenza may finally as* 
sume the form of strangles, or end in a bad discharge from the 
nose, chronic cough, &c, and in inveterate cases, may terminate 
in glanders. 

The principal features of influenza are, that it appears at cer- 

* These terms are used by horsemen in New England to denote a kind of 
catarrh or influenza, that often breaks out among young horses at particulai 
eeasons of the year, and seems to rage more in some stables than others. It 
is the genf ral opinion that all horses must ha\e an attack of this sort once in 
their lives. Therefore a horse that has once had it is considered acclimated, 
and his owner finds a more ready sale for him than for one that has not had 
this affection. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 55 

tain seasons of the year, in stables, at remote points, prevailing 
more in some than in others. When once it breaks out in a 
stable, it is sure to effect all the susceptible subjects'; sometimes 
it creeps from stall to stall in a slow and gradual manner ; at 
others, three or four horses will be attacked all at once, and in 
the course of a few days all the new comers are on the sick list. 
Yet if the stable be well ventilated, and the horses properly man- 
aged, both as regards diet and exercise, the evil day may be put 
off in some, and others may have so light an attack as not to 
occasion any alarm. Many thus managed are known to run 
clear for years, and then, on coming in contact with the infection, 
become its victims. 

Symptoms. — There is no disease that assumes so great a 
variety of symptoms at its commencing as this ; still there are 
some features always present that convince us of the nature of 
the disease we have to treat. The first symptom the stabler 
notices is, that the horse is dumpish, as he calls it, which signifies 
debility. This is a remarkable feature, and one that seldom, if 
ever, presents itself in any other form of disease so early. To a 
casual observer the horse looks as if he had been sick for months. 
If you urge him to move, he does so after the fashion of an over- 
grown elephant. The eye is indicative also of the disease ; its 
vessels are turgid, have an arterial red appearance, (this has 
perhaps led to the term pink eye,) the lids become swollen, and 
the animal shrinks from the light as if its rays caused pain ; the 
tears trickle over, and now and then a particle of purulent or 
lymphy matter can be seen in the angles of the eye. The animal 
seems unable to support the weight of his head ; it either remains 
in a drooping position, or he rests it in the crib. First one hind 
limb and then the other swell, become infiltrated with fluid, which 
constitutes anasarca; or they may both commence to swell at 
">nce ; in fact, other parts of the body become dropsical, so that 
the patient sometimes more resembles an elephant than a horse. 
This swelling of the legs, let it be more or less, is considered, in 
connection with the other features, the diagnostic symptoms. It 
is very different from that tumefaction which we observe in the 
limbs of many horses, occasioned by want of exercise, &c. It 
comes i>n suddenly, affects the whole limb, groin, and sheath ', 



B6 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

fche latter to such an extent as to cause the penis to protrude 
The hair from the first bas an unhealthy aspect and rough feel 
the ears, nose, and limbs are cold or not, according to the stage 
of the disease. The appetite is poor from the first, and any 
attempt to awallow tells us that the throat is excessively sore ; 
inspect the fauces, and they will be found inflamed ; the tongue ii 
foul, thickly coated, and saliva runs freely, although not always, 
for in many cases the mouth is dry and feverish ; the excrementa 
are voided in small quantities ; the excretory as well as the 
secretory functions are as torpid as the animal himself. In tn« 
course of a few days a nasal discharge sets up, and this is con- 
sidered a favorable crisis. In some subjects, however, the disease 
terminates in submaxillary abscess ; the animal sometimes has a 
troublesome cough. 

These are the main features of this form of influenza. They 
vary in different subjects, both in the mode of attack, intensity, 
and termination; and in the progress of the disease, although 
self-limited, it depends much on treatment, and still more on the 
management of the horse during his sickness. 

Treatment. — Our first business is to place the patient in a 
situation where he may have the benefit of a pure atmosphere, 
(this is the best medicine for the lungs ;) for the blood, being 
loaded with carbon, owing to its languid circulation, requires 
pure air to decarbonize it. The body is to be clothed according 
to the temperature of the stable. If the limbs are cold, they 
should be well rubbed, and if any difficulty is experienced in in- 
creasing their temperature, some stimulating liniment should be 
rubbed on, and flannel bandages applied if necessary. These, 
however, must be omitted when the limbs become anasarcous ; 
for they only keep the parts hot and feverish. The same apply 
to body clothing; the natural clothing of the body is all the 
animal needs in the febrile stage, provided the atmosphere be 
comfortable. 

The following dose should be given early, as it helps to clear 
out the digestive cavity of all morbid material : — 

Sulphur 5 drachms, 

Cream of tartar, 2 " 

Salt, .1 ounce. 

Mix, with flaxseed tea, for a drench. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 57 

We find from experience that salt has a good effect on this 
disease, and therefore generally allow the patient all he 
will eat. 

The best drink for the patient is flaxseed tea, acidulated with 
cream of tartar, and thickened with powdered licorice. Yet if 
he eat much salt, which is often the case, a corresponding thirst 
may be expected : in this event, we see no good reason in with- 
holding water, provided it be given a quart or two at a time, with 
the chill off, although warm water generally excites disgust on 
the part of our patient, and he will often go thirsty rather than 
drink the nauseous stuff, which would at almost any time sicken 
a dog. As regards the diet : a plethoric horse should be half 
starved, both in view of reducing his fat and lessening the fever, 
which, as a matter of course, will accompany the malady. In 
fact, sloppy drinks and scalded shorts are all that are needed in 
any case, until the disease turns for the better. 

Should the throat be sore, let it be rubbed occasionally with 
warm vinegar and salt. The discharge from the nostrils must 
be encouraged by steaming. The rectum may be emptied occa- 
sionally with warm soapsuds. In view of guarding against sub 
sequent cough and debility, we give the following : — 

Powdered elecampane, 

" pleurisy root, 

" licorice, 
Slippery elm, . . . 

Salt, 

Gentian 

Dose, 1 ounce daily. 

The swollen limbs are to be rubbed frequently, and the patient 
must have walking exercise as soon as the state of his health 
permits. 

It is a notorious fact that there is no disease to which horses 
in this country are subject that has opened so wide a field for 
empiricism as this. Every man has his favorite remedy, and 
often applies it to his own loss, because he thinks it beneath his 
dignity to employ a physician to treat what horse dealers con- 
sider a simple disease, which, however, frequently becomes com 
plicated from want of knowing when to do nothing, or applying 
•uitable means at the proper time. 



> equal parts. 



58 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



SPASM OF THE LARYNX. 

The larynx is an irregular cartilaginous tube forming the uppei 
extremity of the windpipe, and is the organ which produces thai 
peculiar sound called neighing ; it affords free passage, in its 
normal state, for respiration, and also attachment for numerous 
muscles. Its internal cavity is protected by the common mem- 
brane termed mucous, which, at times, becomes the seat of a dis- 
ease known as laryngitis. 

Our own opinion is, that the spasm may arise from other causes 
than those acting directly on the laryngeal apparatus. From the 
symptoms detailed by Surgeon Haycock, which we shall here 
introduce, it seems to bear some analogy to laryngismus stridulus, 
("croup" of the human family,) and that* which is here termed 
spasm may result from a nervous affection induced by indigestion ; 
in that case spasm of the larynx is a symptom of another disease. 
What some might term spasm of the larynx may result from some 
morbid productions within the larynx, an ozdematous swelling 
occurring in the submucous membrane of the larynx, as in cases 
of violent laryngitis, may give rise to many symptoms noticed by 
the individual just named ; yet a morbid production of this char- 
acter could not with propriety be called spasm. 

The history of laryngismus strididus — croup — is as follows : 
the attack comes on during sleep ; the child starts suddenly ; 
struggles for breath ; face flushed, and swollen, and purple ; and 
after repeated efforts, we have long inspiration, accompanied with 
a whooping or crowing noise, arising from obstruction, not spasm. 
It makes very little difference, however, whether the difficulty of 
respiration occur from spasm or obstruction, since the treatment 
of either does not materially differ, that is, as regards present 
rtlief. The three principal means of cure are — nauseants, 
counter irritations, and lastly, tracheotomy. 

Let it be understood that this treatment applies to those cases 
which occur from internal obstruction ; the treatment, of course, 
must vary according to the nature of the case. For our prin 
cipal object is not so much to treat spasm of the larynx, as it should 
be to discover its cause — that removed, sDasir will cease. That 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 58 

it is flot always a primary disease we have ample testimony from 
Mr. Haycock's own pen: see Veterinary Homoeopathy, p. 167 
u The causes are numerous" &c. "It may arise from laryngitis? 
&c. If it does arise from laryngitis and other affections, it is 
only a secondary disease, or, as Mr. Percivall says, " symptomatic 
of some distinct and acknowledged genus or species of disease." 

Symptoms of Spasm of the Larynx. — " The symptoms of spasm 
tf the larynx are of so evident a nature as to warrant me 5n say- 
ing tl at they declare themselves, and that too in the most decisive 
manner. Sometimes the disease manifests itself in a moment, as 
it were, with a most terrible severity; the animal begins to gasp 
for breath ; the eyeballs protrude, and present a wild, haggard 
appearance ; the nostrils are dilated to their utmost extent ; the 
nose is protruded, and the neck is carried in a line with the back ; 
the flanks heave with .most excessive violence, and .every time the 
poor beast inspires air, a sound is emitted, which will vary in its 
character and intensity according to the vigor of the spasm. 
Sometimes it will be loud and shrill, sometimes a kind of scream, 
at other times like the loud twang from a trumpet — or it may 
be rasping, snoring, or like that elicited when sawing wood. As 
the disease proceeds, the general symptoms become more violent 
— the mucous membrane of the mouth assumes a purple color , 
the animal becomes partially unconscious ; he rushes wildly from 
place to place, as though seeking in vain for aid ; the body 
becomes suffused with a streaming perspiration ; at last, the 
spasm is either suddenly relieved, which is very rarely the case 
or he falls heavily to the ground, struggling for a few moments, 
and then dies completely asphyxiated. If the disease supervene 
upon an inflammatory attack of the organ, the symptoms in such 
cases, for a short period at least, will most probably be of a mildei 
character. A partial spasm of the muscles will manifest itself, 
which may exhibit just such a degree of violence as to excite 
alarm, and nothing more, when the whole will gradually subside, 
and leave the patient in a very tranquil state ; in a short time, 
however, may be in two or three hours, or more or less according 
to circumstances, it again commences, and continues for a longer 
period, or it goes on increasing in violence, until either relief is 
afforded surgically or the patient dies." 



80 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

We must not therefore, as already observed, consider spasm 
of the larynx in all cases a primary affection, for we know '.hat 
in the human family croup is often associated with impaired 
nutrition, and well-marked derangements of the digestive organs, 
and all attempts to cure by local means fail, unless aided with 
pure air and a well-regulated system of hygiene. So that if 
impaired nutrition leads to spasmodic diseases, and, reasoning 
from analogy, we may safely conclude that it does, our object in 
the treatment should be to restore the digestive organs to their 
normal state. We have lately read a paper written by Dr. Fer- 
guson, of Dublin, which goes to show that spasm of the larynx 
can be produced at will : he states, he administered some hydro- 
cyanic acid to several frogs ; after death he examined them, and 
found the larynx of each one spasmodically closed. A dose wag 
also given to a rabbit, and after death the blood vessels of the 
larynx and trachea were intensely congested. A similar state of 
things might be brought about in the horse, by the use of similar 
poisonous agents ; but as medical treatment would, in cases of this 
kind, fail, it is unnecessary to write any thing more on that subject. 

Treatment. — It has been hinted, at the commencement of this 
article, that nauseants, counter irritants, and tracheotomy are the 
principal agents in view of immediate relief; unfortunately, ho\r- 
ever, the former are of little avail unless administered early — - 
before alarming symptoms set in, as in partial spasm. When the 
patient is attacked suddenly, and shows all the worst features of 
the disease, he can only be relieved by a surgical operation called 
tracheotomy. The operation is not considered a dangerous one, 
yet the services of a qualified person are indispensable ; as also 
in cases which result from the presence of morbid growths in the 
vicinity of the larynx, surgical skill must be sought. 

It is proper, in all cases of either spasm or obstruction existing 
it or about the larynx, to let the patient inhale the vapor of hot 
water, or else that arising from medicated water. A small por- 
tion of nitrous ether, dropped on a large sponge previously satu- 
rated with hot water, and held up to the patient's nostrils, may 
give relief; we have tried this article, as well as chloric ether, in 
eases of obstructed respiration, and think benefit has been derived. 
Only a small quantity 01 these articles, however, can be used, for 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 61 

in excess they are apt, instead of relaxing, to produce rigid spasms 
of what are known as the vocal cords. In administering chloro- 
form to animals this rule holds good, for we have invariably found 
that if etherization is carried beyond a certain point, a tetanic 
spasm of the muscular tissues is the result — which is only reme- 
died by removing the breathing apparatus for a short time, when 
the muscles soon relax and become pliable. 

Lobelia is considered, also, a very good relaxant ; it is extolled 
very highly by some physicians for the cure of asthmatical com- 
plaints, and for relaxing rigid parts ; we have used it in this view 
for a number of years on all classes of domestic animals, and con" 
eider it a valuable antispasmodic. A strong infusion of lobelia 
can be brought in contact with the horse's nostrils by means of a 
sponge, and perhaps prove as beneficial as ether. All sorts of 
means have been suggested for steaming the nostrils ; we prefer 
the sponge to any other contrivance, for hot steam (that arising 
from boiling water directly applied) will tend rather to inflame 
than relax a part already in an irritable state. The sponge, being 
porous, permits cool air, in the act of respiration, to pass through, 
mingle with the hot fluid and vapor, and thus moderate its tem- 
perature. Counter irritants, applied externally in the region of 
the throat and chest, are generally recommended ; the common 
hartshorn liniment, essence of mustard, or a mixture composed of 
equal parts of olive oil, tincture of capsicum, and lobelia, are 
among the most efficient remedies for this purpose. The lectum 
must be kept empty by stimulating clysters ; all food to be with- 
held until the worst symptoms are past, when some thin gruel, 
sweetened with honey, may be allowed. 

LARYNGITIS. — {Inflammation of the lining membrane of the larynx.) 

The membrane which lines the larynx is one of great sensi- 
bility, and prone to take on disease of an acute character, from a 
trifling cause, and if not properly attended to is very apt to result 
in chronic cough. The same membrane in the interior of the 
larynx is part and parcel of that peculiar to the trachea and othei 
air passages ; yet it appears to be more sensitive there, as well as 
•c the bronchial divisions. Mr. White, in alluding to the sensi- 



62 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

bility of the membrane of the larynx, and the comparative inset 
sibility of that portion within the windpipe, says, " This I havu 
ascertained by opening the trachea, introducing my finger, and 
scratching the membrane. I did the same with a bit of straw, 
which the horse did not appear to feel ; but on passing it up- 
wards, the moment it touch sd the larynx, the most violent irri- 
tation and coughing was produced. I have tried this experiment 
several times with the same result. In a roarer, where I found 
an ulcer in the larynx, the most distressing irritation and wheezing 
t*ere produced whenever the horse was made to exert himself, 
and this rendered him so useless that he was killed. In another 
horse that was glandered, I found (after death) the whole of the 
internal membrane of the trachea ulcerated ; but this horse was 
not observed to have a cough, nor was he a roarer, the glanders 
being the only seeming disorder he labored under." 

Symptoms. — 'The animal generally projects the head, indicat- 
ing a stiffened neck ; he endeavors to bring objects, by rotating 
the eyes, within the range of vision, rather than by moving his head. 
The respirations are short and painful, and emit a labored sound ; 
the throat and sub-glands are tumefied, but not so much in the 
early as in the latter stages of its inflammatory type. The act 
of swallowing is performed with difficulty ; sometimes on attempt- 
ing to swallow food, or even water, the animal will be seized with 
a fit of spasmodic coughing, really distressing to witness. The 
slightest pressure in the region of the throat will excite spasmodic 
coughing. At first a slight cough is only perceptible ; but as the 
disease progresses, the cough increases, until it becomes hoarse 
and feeble. These symptoms, without noticing those which may 
occur during the progress of the affection, are sufficient in them- 
Belves to indu-ate the nature and seat of the disease, so that there 
need be no mistake about it. 

Treatment. — In all cases of this character a pure atmosphere 
is indispensable ; the diet must be of a sloppy character, easy of 
digestion, and containing but a small amount of nutriment. The 
bowels should be kept soluble with cooling saline aperients ; lfj 
however, they can be so kept by bran mashes, seasoned with sah\ 
the former may be dispensed with. Some apply poultices, em- 
brocations and fomentations to the throat, neither of which should 
be continued any length of time unless they give immediate relief; 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 53 

for let it be remembered that the animal may suddenly expire 
from suffocation, in his efforts to breathe. In cases of an alarm- 
ing character, such, for example, as when the mucous membranes 
are infiltrated, or tumefied, or the laryngeal cavity occupied by 
morbid secretion, recourse must be had to bronchotomy, or trache- 
otomy, either of which terms serves to designate the nature of the 
operation. It consists in making an opening into the windpipe, 
and introducing through it a tube, so that the lungs are iuflated, 
without the air having to pass through the laryngeal channel. 
The operation is both safe and practicable, for it is seldom, if 
ever, attended with bad results. 

This operation, however, should only be resorted to when the 
danger of suffocation is imminent ; and then the breathing tube 
ought to be removed, the wound closed, and the integumenta 
brought together by stitches, just so soon as the horse shows signa 
that the danger is past. 

We have found water, cold or warm, as the season permitted, 
very good for relieving acute laryngitis, applied by means of 
sponges to the throat. 

In chronic cases, when the glandular organs around the throat 
are swollen, a stimulating liniment will be indicated, which should 
be rubbed in night and morning, the animal to have a nutritious 
diet, and to be drenched as follows : — 

Balsam of fir, 1 ounce, 

Sweet spirits of nitre, ... 2 ounces. 
Sirup of garlic 4 ounces. 

Mix. Dose. — One sixth part to be given every night in a pini 
of thin gruel. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS. 

PNEUMONIA. 

Mr. Percivall uses the word " pneumony," instead of pneu- 
monia, " to express either a state of congestion or of inflammation 
in the lungs." The disease may be in the congestive or inflam- 
matory stages, simple or complicated, involving the bronchia, or 
pleural membranes, either the one or the other ; acute and sub- 



64 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

acute are also terms applied to this disease, but these terms hav« 
merely reference to the stage or intensity. 

Symptoms of Congestive Pneumonia. — " In the worst cases of 
this kind, the animal is all over in a tremor ; a cold sweat be- 
dews his body ; there is no pulse to be felt ; his extreme parts 
betray the coldness of death ; his eye is frightfully wild ; and, 
together with the boring of head and stupidity evinced by 
him, clearly denote the poor sufferer to be laborrsg under a spe- 
cies of delirium. Should this state of congestion come on in th6 
6table, gradually, and some time after the cause is applied, the 
horse will show it by appearing dull, listless, heavy headed, and 
off his appetite ; his respiration will gradually become more dis- 
turbed and oppressed, indicating much more of labor than of 
pain. The pulse will be full and quick, but probably so feeble 
es hardly to be perceptible. The ear, applied to the chest, de- 
tects no sound ; the usual respiratory murmur is lost. The ex- 
tremities — the legs and ears — have a cold, death-like feel ; and 
in extreme cases, the mouth is cold also, and the pupils more or 
less dilated. Cold sweats supervene; no pulse is to be felt ; the 
animal gradually sinks, and in convulsions and delirium dies." 

Symptoms of Inflammatory Pneumony. — " The symptoms will 
be such as are observed at the beginning of common fever and 
other inflammatory diseases, such as staring, or erection of the 
Lair, and cold extremities, followed, perhaps, by actual rigor; the 
horse ' hangs his head ' either in or under the manger, and has 
not eaten his last meal ; has had for some days a short, dry 
cough, which comes on when he is exercised, or after drinking ; 
and is dull and dejected in countenance, and moves with great 
disinclination. To this succeed fever, quickness of pulse, and 
heat of mouth, and injection of the membranes of the nosb 
and eyes ; and now, in the second stage, the breathing becomes 
disturbed, and the case quickly develops itself. The nostrils 
will be seen opening and shutting their wings ; the flanks labori- 
ously working up and down ; for the disturbed breathing will be 
of a kind to indicate embarrassment or oppression, rather than 
sickness or pain ; whereas in subacute cases, the flanks can hard- 
ly be seen to move at all ; then it is that the nostrils become 
an important guide to us. The pulse, at the beginning, is ac- 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 65 

celeratcd, and commonly distinct ; but, as the disorder proceeds, 
it is veiy apt to grow indistinct from fulness and oppression 
from which, however, it recovers by loss of blood, and then again 
becomes perceptible, and often, compared to what it was before, 
possessed of strength ; the ears and legs are colder than ever ; 
the membrane of the nose is moist and reddened, and there is 
often to be perceived a sparing yellow, slimy issue from one or 
both nostrils. The horse stands constantly in the same place 
and posture, often with his fore legs stretched out, and preferg 
having his head directed either to the door, or to any open win- 
dow there may be. He never offers to lie down ; but from time 
to time casts a look backwards at his heaving flank, of a peculiar 
desponding character, which the experienced practitioner does 
not fail to recognize. The third and last stage is characterized 
by the respiration becoming quicker and more oppressed ; the 
pulse also quicker, but less distinct ; the coldness of the extremi- 
ties continuing unrelieved ; the membrane of the nose changing 
from red to a leaden hue ; convulsive twitchings of the muscles 
of the surface ; extreme uneasiness ; lying down and rising again ; 
reeling in his gait ; haggard countenance ; delirium; convulsions; 
leath." — Jlippopathology, vol. ii. p. 79-81. 

The causes of this derangement are various : any thing which 
suppresses the natural evacuations of the system will produce it. 
Among the chief causes are want of pure air, insufficient exer- 
cise, exposure to cold, plethora, and uncleanliness. The derange- 
ment may, however, be excited by causes varying in their 
general character. A horse may be driven a long distance after 
having stood for several days in the stable without proper exer- 
cise. The lungs are suddenly brought into active operation — a 
part they are not well calculated to perform after long restt 
They, like the muscular or nervous systems, require constant, 
yet judicious exercise, in order that they shall maintain their 
physiological relations ; and this explains the reason why 60 
many horses are attacked shortly after a smart drive. 

Mr. Percivall says, " He that has clean and cool stables will 

have a healthy stud, and the converse of this will never fail to 

engender disease. Above all other considerations, then, in taking 

the colt from his natural state, it behooves us to guard him fron. 

6* 



66 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

the vicissitudes of cold and heat, and to keep him in an atmos- 
phere as pure as that of which we have just deprived him. . 
Horses of any age, but above all young horses, should never 
be exposed to a heated air; they may be warmly clothed, and 
even with advantage be kept in moderately warm stables, but 
they ought never to respire a hot and stimulating atmosphere. 

u The next circumstance to be attended to, in order to preserve 
the health of a horse recently domesticated, is exercise. Com- 
pelling the animal at once to perform such exercise as comes 
under the denomination of work, is merely subjecting him to the 
invasion of disease, and of disease most probably of the organs of 
respiration ; hence the old obser\ ation, ' A young horse ought 
never to be sweated in his exercise.' Numberless horses, not only 
young ones, but of all ages, are, from want of consideration on the 
part of their owners, killed in this way in the course of a year. 
A person purchases a young horse of a dealer, who, most likely, 
has had him for some weeks, during which time the animal has been 
getting fresh, as the dealers call it ; i. e., he has been pampered 
with all possible care, fed as if he were put up to be fattened for 
the butcher, and little or not at all exercised : suddenly, the 
horse, by way of trial, is made to perform by his new master 
what he calls, and to another would have been, but moderate 
work, but what in this case is excessive exertion ; and the con- 
sequence is, that the animal is attacked with pneumonia, and dies 
in the course of forty-eight hours. It is of the utmost conse- 
quence, therefore, to attend to this circumstance ; if the horse be 
young, we cannot be too gentle with him in regard to his exer- 
cise, for at this period he is totally unfit for work. 

u . . . Though a horse newly purchased of a dealer is 
one whose age indicates that he is able to work, still, in conse- 
quence of his having, probably, been kept in a state of inactivi- 
ty, a proper regimen will be required to put him even in actual 
condition for hard work. Hunting a horse with others, under 
such circumstances, is like matching a man nursed in the lap of 
indolence, to contend with a pugilist in hard and continual 
training." 

Inflammation of the lungs is generally ushered in with a shiv- 
ering fit, succeeded by superficial heat of the body and cold ex- 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 87 

tremities. These symptoms are accompanied by a quick pulse ; 
respiration short, quick, and laborious. The movement at the 
flanks, termed abdominal respiration, is marked, generally, by a 
degree of regularity indicative of the oppressive state of the 
organs of respiration. As the disease progresses, the ears, nose, 
and legs have an icy coldness ; the animal assumes a position 
that will expand the thorax ; the head and neck are extended ; 
nostrils dilated ; the fore legs are stiffened and stretched out, 
and the disease frequently terminates in engorgement of the 
lungs, and, more frequently in this country than in any other, 
effusion into the thorax. 

Mr. Percivall (Lect. xxxviii. p. 323) makes some very inter* 
esting remarks in connection with pneumonia, which, although 
intended for the meridian of London, are applicable to this 
country. He says, " Pulmonary disease runs its course now and 
then with surprising rapidity. I have known a horse to be at- 
tacked with acute pneumonia, and to die from it in the space of 
seventeen hours ; and it is by no means uncommon for it to prove 
fatal on the second or third day from its onset. Ignorance of 
this fact has led to the institution of many lawsuits, and to some 
oppressive judicial arbitrations for horse dealers ; e. g., a gentle- 
man purchases a young horse, warranted sound, and the next 
day, or the day after, rides or drives the animal, unprepared for 
fatigue, and consequently unable to bear it, by way of trial ; the 
day following this trial, or rather ordeal, the horse refuses his 
food, blows a little, and soon after manifests a severe attack of 
pneumonia, of which, within a few days or weeks from his pur- 
chase, he dies. An action is immediately brought against the 
dealer. Some blundering, ignorant farrier, on the part of the 
plaintiff, swears that the animal, when opened, was found ' at 
rotten as a pear,' and that he must consequently have been dis- 
eased long before he was bought. The result is, that the dealer is 
cast, and the gentleman recovers his money. Now, in the gen- 
erality of these cases, the very reverse of this is the absolute 
truth ; the animal was perfectly sound at the time of purchase, 
and was made otherwise solely by the exertion his purchaser put 
him to ; and so far from the rottenness of the lungs, or agglutina- 
tion of them to the sides of the chest, being proofs of the contra* 



68 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

ry, 1 have seen the one produced in seventeen hours, and know 
from extensive observation, that the other, viz., blackness and en- 
gorgement of them with blood, or something like an approach to 
mortification, (for rottenness is an expression that has here no 
definite meaning whatever,) may take place in the course of four 
and twenty hours. Indeed, when pneumonia proves fatal, it 
most commonly does so in the course of the first three, or four, or 
Sve days ; if it continue beyond this, or there be any remission, 
it is always a favorable indication. In these cases, the lungs 
themselves, as I have just stated, are found nearly black, of the 
color of the darkest venous blood, with which they are pro- 
digiously glutted ; the pleura also displays a surface highly vas- 
cular, and adhesions are occasionally discovered upon it." 

The hot, moist atmosphere, which is to be found in the majority 
of unventilated stables, prevents the insensible perspiration from 
being evaporated with that rapidity so necessary for the purifica- 
tion of the system. The atmosphere may be said to be saturated 
with moisture, so that the excrementitious materials thrown out 
from the external surface, instead of finding a ready outlet in 
space, where they would be soon decomposed and again made 
fit for respiratory uses, are condensed on the surface, and reab- 
sorbed in their defiling state. It has been discovered by a number 
of experiments, that when warm-blooded animals are placed in a 
hot atmosphere, saturated with moisture, the temperature of their 
bodies is gradually raised 12° or 13° above the natural standard, 
and that the consequence is then inevitably fatal. Let it be under- 
stood, then, that no evaporation from the skin can take place when 
the stable atmosphere is saturated with vapor, and also that if this 
be the case, the heat of the body increases, rather than decreases— 
a condition which places our patient beyond the reach of the veter- 
inary art. A peculiar feature in the treatment of inflammatory 
pneumony is, to withdraw heat from the body by evaporation. It 
is well known that a profuse exhalation from the surface fulfils all 
the indications that are contemplated in the use of the fleam, and 
the practice is more rational and less prostrating. A large quan- 
tity of solid animal matter, besides other secretions, is carried 
out of the system by the skin, and the patient is thus relieved. 
"That which is called the hydropathic system proceeds upon 
the plan of increasing the cutaneous exhalation to a very laraa 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 69 

amount ; and there seems much evidence that certain deleterious 
matters, the presence of which in the blood gives rise to various 
diseases, are drawn off from it more speedily and certainly in this 
way than in any other." 

It has been a universal custom to resort to the lancet, in the 
cure of this disease. From time immemorial, the most talented 
v>f the profession have invariably resorted to the fleam, as their 
sheet anchor, in the treatment of this, one of the most destructive 
in the catalogue of veterinary diseases. We object to the deple- 
tory system, for we have no idea of bleeding a horse to death with 
a view of saving life. If, as it frequently happens, in this disease, 
the lungs are congested, and the abstraction of blood will promote 
the free and full circulation of that which remains, then there 
might be some excuse for bloodletting. It will be urged that 
horses do get well after being bled ; but this is no proof of its 
utility. On the contrary, it goes to show, as in the case where a 
horse receives a violent blow on the head, by which the skull is 
fractured, and he recovers, that his health is restored in spite of 
the violence done. Blood is the fuel that keeps the lamp of life 
burning ; it is the sum of the powers that resist disease. " "With- 
out blood there is no heat, no motion in the body ; " its abstraction 
leaves the various organs less capable of self-defence. But there 
are other reasons why we object to the use of the lancet ; and the 
first is, the disease can, if curable, be cured without abstracting 
blood. 

Secondly. In every disease wherein bleeding has been re- 
sorted to, complete recovery has been protracted, and the animal 
manifests the debility by swollen legs, and other unmistakable 
evidences of derangement of the normal condition. 

Thirdly. Because the letting of blood impoverishes that 
which remains in the system, and leads to other equally danger^ 
OU8 diseases as the one it was intended to cure. 

We are aware that our uncompromising opposition to the use 
of the lancet, in the treatment of pneumonia, will subject us to 
the sneers of its advocates, who, by the by, are, generally speak 
ing, a hundred years behind the age ; their dogmas are to them 
what the laws were to the Medes and Persians. But some con- 
solation is afforded us in the fact that there never was a new 
science but was opposed by some. The science that Harvey 



70 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

labored to discover was bitterly opposed, even by profesuiooaj 
men. Galileo, Newton, Franklin, and Fulton — indeed, a host 
of men of kindred genius — have been assailed and pronounced 
the humbugs of their day. But what care we for censure when 
engaged in this glorious work of reform ? If we can only arrest 
the stream of blood that is now, in consequence of an evil system 
of medication, flowing from the veins of our domestic animals, wo 
shall have done a good work ; and persecution, from whatever 
«ource, only stimulates us to greater exertion. We have but to 
thank God that we are in enlightened America — among a nation 
of scholars, where men delight to honor even a Spurzheim, one 
whom the nations of the old world denominated a fool. The 
American people have testified their approbation of his worth by 
erecting in Mount Auburn Cemetery a monument to his memory. 
Hence our lot is cast " in pleasant places" and our work is a 
comparatively light one, to what it would have been in any other 
country. 

Treatment of Inflammation of the Lungs. — Before commen- 
cing the treatment of this malady, the horse should be placed by 
himself in a shed or barn, where he can breathe an uncontami- 
nated atmosphere ; for the author considers it a matter of 
impossibility to carry a case of inflammatory pneumony to a 
successful termination in an atmosphere such as we find pervad- 
ing some of our city stables. In this disease the venous blood is 
of a black, pitchy character, loaded with carbon, a defiling mass, 
which requires pure oxygen for its decarbonization, and any thing 
short of purity is not admissible. No dependence can be placed 
in remedial agents, or the most consummate skill, unless secc nded 
by an atmosphere that will decarbonize the blood. Having then 
secured a pure atmosphere, in a situation where the patient shal 
be free from annoyance of every kind, we thus commence the 
treatment: Suppose the bowels to be constipated, extremities 
cold, respiration laborious, &c, take 

Powdered aloes, 4 drachms, 

" crawley root, 2 " 

" lobelia, \ • ' * ' °f each 3 drachms, 

Honey, half a gill, 

Boiling water, I quart. 

When cool, administer from a bottle. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 7\ 

Small doses of ipecac and lobelia may be giveD occasionally hs 
thin gruel, in view of relaxation of the tissues. Injections must 
also be given. 

Many practitioners object to giving fluid in a case of lung 
fever, for fear it will excite the animal. Human practitioners 
might, with the same propriety, prohibit their fever patients (in- 
fants) having medicine forced down their throats, for the same 
reason ; and if they were treated in the same rough manner as 
the horse is, the prohibition would be judicious. To give a horse 
a ball, under the circumstances, is perfectly absurd ; we might 
just as well substitute a canister shot; for, before the former 
can be digested, the horse is about to kick the bucket. 

Having administered the above draught, we next resort to 
counter irritants. These must be applied particularly to the legs, 
with constant hand rubbing, until they are quite warm ; then a 
flannel bandage is to be applied to each leg, and the process of 
rubbing to be again repeated, should they again become cold. 
Every drop of blood thus invited and retained in the extreme 
vessels is so much gained towards relieving the congested state 
of the lungs. Our usual counter irritant is, — 

Oil of cedar, 4 drachms. 

Oil of sassafras, 2 " 

Dissolve the above oils in a wine-glass of alcohol ; then add 

Tr. capsicum, (or hot drops,) 1 pint. 

With a view of promoting the insensible perspiration, the ani- 
mal should be covered with suitable clothing, not enveloped in a 
mountain of blankets, or buffalo skins, as wt> frequently see them ; 
but a single blanket, with flannel leggings, will probably be all 
that is needed, even in cold weather. In the hot season a linen 
covering will be the most suitable. Our only object in clothing 
the animal at all, is, to retain the insensible perspiration in the 
immediate vicinity of the surface ; we then have the material) 
(warmth and moisture) which are generally needed to keep up 
the relaxation of the capillary and excrementitious vessels of the 
external surface. 

If the disease is seen and treated according to the above rules, 
rery little else is needed ; for, the blood by this means being 
equalized, there can be no congestions any where. We have 
Chen only to maintain the equilibrium of the circulation, and thu 



72 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

can generally be accomplished by an occasional drink of lobelia 
and hyssop tea ; one ounce of each to a quart of boiling water 
We use lobelia in the same view that veterinary surgeons use 
white hellebore, viz., for producing nausea and relaxation. Mr 
Percivall, when referring (in his Lectures) to the latter article, 
says, " To describe the operation of hellebore, perhaps I cannot 
do better than advert for a moment to the use of ipecacuanha, 
under similar circumstances, in the human subject. That sub- 
stance is a nauseant, a vomit, and a sudorific, and is highly ser- 
viceable in pneumonic affections, from the effects it manifests in 
lowering vascular action and promoting diaphoresis and expecto- 
ration. Much in the same way white hellebore appears to 
operate." And so in like manner does lobelia operate. If given 
to a healthy cow or horse, it nauseates, and induces a profuse flow 
of saliva, with general relaxation and prostration. In the human 
subject it is superior to all other emetics. It is an excitant of all 
the secretions, and its efficacy in pulmonary diseases is beyond 
dispute. 

The mild, subacute, inflammatory, and chronic pneumonia 
may be treated on the general principles here laid down ; yet 
chronic, which may be a continuation of that which was at first 
inflammatory and dangerous, sometimes requires nothing more in 
the way of medicine than to lubricate the respiratory passages, 
which are often left in an irritable state. In such cases, we 
recommend 

Powdered pleurisy root, 

" elecampane, 

" bloodroot, 

" caraways, 

" ginger, 

" salt, ) , , „ 

" elm \ each 2 ounces, 

Linseed meal, ... 1 pound. 

Mix. Divide the mass into sixteen powders, and give one in the 
food night and morning. 

DROPSY OF THE CHEST. — (Hydrothoraz.) 

This form of the disease is almost always fatal. 
Case of Pneumonia, terminating in Hydrothorax and Death 
— The subject, a gray mare, six years old, had, just previous to 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 75 

the attack, fallen into the hands, by purchase, of Mr. B„ jf this 
city. Nothing particular was noticed in her, until the appearance 
of febrile symptoms. She had gone well — to the satisfaction of 
her new master. She was in fine spirits, and had a good appe- 
tite. On the 17th of May, she was suddenly taken with a fit of 
shn sring. The owner ordered her to be warmly clothed, and 
have a stimulating drench administered. By the aid of blankete, 
hand rubbing, and medicine, some improvement apparently took 
place, which, however, was only of short duration. The horse 
was evidently sick, and required professional skill. On the 18th, 
at I he request of Mr. B., we proceeded to Maiden to visit the 
patient, and found her standing in the stall, looking rather dull. 
The pulse was over sixty — respiration quick and laborious ; the 
sclerotica, conjunctiva, and nasal membranes were highly injected. 
The ears, nose, and legs were icy cold, yet the surface generally 
was hot, and the fore legs, as is usual in such cases, were stiffened 
out. The animal was rather indifferent about food, and had not 
lain down for two nights. A strong application, composed of 
vinegar, mustard, and black pepper, soon had the effect of restor- 
ing heat to the extremities, which were then bandaged. A por- 
tion of the mixture was also applied to the chest, in view of coun- 
ter irritation, and an aperient drench was given. A diet of cut 
grass and scalded shorts, and warm drinks, was ordered. The 
disease was treated in the usual manner, and on the tenth day 
after our first visit, she lay down, and appeared so much improved, 
that we had hopes of her speedy recovery. She was now per- 
mitted to run in an adjoining pasture for two or three houra 
during the day. In the course of three days, she appeared so 
much better, that we directed her to be left in the pasture most 
of the day. 

On the 6th of June, Mr. B. called on us, and stated that the 
rnare was not so well. We visited her, and found it to be t.ho 
case. On leading her out, she was quite unsteady in her gait, 
und walked with her legs wide apart. There was slight oedema 
(dropsical swellings) of the breast and belly. The pulse was 
sixty, although only three days ago it was but forty. The respi- 
ration was somewhat distressing, apparently pei'formed by the 
•kbdominal and in/ercostal muscles. The respiratory mirmur on 



74 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

the left side was audible ; but on the right, there was an absence 
of all sound. The ribs seemed to be elevated at each inspiration. 
The animal had a distressing look. The appetite was impaired, 
and the bowels were constipated ; the feces hard and slimy. 
Effusion had now evidently taken place. We treated the animal 
in the most judicious manner; at least, to the best of our abilily. 
Counter irritants were applied externally, and aperients, diuretics, 
and alteratives internally. The horse was kept free from excite- 
ment in the stall, where water and food were brought to her, but 
all to no purpose. The symptoms rapidly grew worse. From 
the 6th to the 9th of June, the patient had lost considerable flesh. 
The bowels had, through the aid of green food and acidulated 
drink, been kept in a lax state — a condition very favorable under 
the circumstances. We now determined to try what virtue there 
was in tapping the chest : for this purpose we pucked up a fold 
of the skin covering the intercostal space behind, and on a level 
with the point of the elbow. A slight puncture was now made 
through the skin — then the trocar and canula were pushed 
through the intercostal muscles and pleura. Through this aper- 
ture we caught four and a half gallons of water. A bandage, 
drawn moderately tight, was wound round the chest, and over this 
a blanket. After the operation, the respiration appeared more 
tranquil, yet the operation was of no avail ; the mare died about 
thirty-six hours afterwards. 

We have had considerable experience in the treatment of 
hydrothorax, and must confess that it is the most fatal of all chest 
diseases. Medicines which, under ordinary circumstances, in 
other diseases of the chest, afford some relief, seem in this diseuss 
to be worse than useless ; and if ever we feel disposed to " thr:>w 
physic to the dogs," it is when treating a case of hydrothora jl \ 
ytt in duty to our employer, patient, and lastly, for the sake of 
our own reputation, we are constrained to use all the meanj 
within our power for the patient's recovery. The majority of both 
human and veterinary practitioners, whose opinions are worth 
ony thing, all agree that the prognosis of hydrothorax is " gen- 
erally unfavorable ;" that it has seldom been cured, and in man} 
3ases will hardly admit even of alleviation. The author of Hip 
yopatholoyy terms the treatment of the disease now under tv.n 



THE MODERN HOR5K DOCTOR. VO 

Bideration " an affair of desperation" and confesses that his own 
practice has proved unsuccessful. " I have frequently performed 
tapping, and as frequentl}" failed in any good result. From an 
old horse I drew off ten gallons of water — seven quarts from tho 
left side, and thirty- three from the right side. He died on the 
fourth day succeeding the operation, without having been in the 
bast relieved by the evacuation. After death, six gallons more 
were found within the chest, and one quart within the peri 
istrdium." 

INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS AND LINING MEMBRANB 
OF THE CHEST. — (Pleuro-Pneumonia.) 

The above terms signify a disease of a compound character — 
pleurisy and pneumonia combined. The treatment does not differ 
from that recommended for pleurisy and pneumonia, (which see). 
The disease, however, runs into a state termed typhoid : this ia 
nothing more nor less than an advanced stage of the same disease ; 
the diagnostic symptoms of which are, the nasal membranes 
have a blue tinge, appearing as if they were glazed over with a 
coating of lead-colored paint ; the breath is very offensive ; the 
throat is somewhat sore, and the glandular structures around are 
swollen ; the patient is in a sinking condition, with no appetite ; 
quick yet feeble pulse ; the urine high-colored and fetid, and the 
excrement is scanty, voided in round lumps. The body is trem- 
ulous, and the coat looks as if the horse had been dead for a week 
or more. In cases of this character, our remedies must be of a 
kind calculated to support the living powers and to arrest decom- 
position, for which we have never found any thing to equal tho 
following: — 

Pale brandy, ... .... ^ a pint, 

Tincture of capsicum, 1 ounce, 

Table salt, 2 ounces, 

Pyroligneous acid 1 ounce. 

Shake the mixture until the salt is dissolved ; then give a wine 
glass every hour, as a drench, in a small portion of oatmeal gruel. 
Salt is a very excellent antiseptic ; a portion should now and then 
be laid on Ihe tongue, or the subject may have aD accasional 
drench of salt and water. 



70 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



PLETJRIS\. — {Pleuritis.) 

The internal cavity of the chest and the outer surface of the 
lung are lined and covered with a highly-organized membrane 
termed the pleura : here the disease locates itself. In the early 
Btage, the disease is termed acute, and in the latter, chronic. The 
disease sometimes terminates in suppuration ; so that, on examin- 
ing a case after death, shreds and flakes of matter will be found 
adhering to the pleural membranes. Now and then, the disease 
terminates in mortification. 

"In 1830, a four-year-old horse was discovered at 7 o'clock 
in the morning, in his stall, sweating profusely ; heaving hard and 
quick at the flanks, and puffing at an equal rate at the nostrils ; 
pulse but very indistinctly to be felt; mouth hot and clammy; 
legs intensely cold ; head hung down, and countenance betraying 
serious malady ; eyes and nose reddened, and the latter moist 
with yellowish-bloody matter; breath fetid as well as mouth. 
When pressed upon the side, he flinched and turned his head, and 
evinced much soreness. As soon as he was got dry and warm 
from the cold sweat he was in, he was bled ; scarcely, howevei 
had two quarts of dark thick blood flowed before he began to reel. 
The treatment afterwards was such as is ordinarily pursued ; 
but to no purpose. The pain he manifested was extreme. He 
would rub his nose against the rail across the doorway of the box, 
thrusting his lips violently against it ; his eyes sinking with suf- 
fering. He was twice seen to lie down, but immediately rose 
again. Towards the conclusion, a bloody issue appeared at the 
nose. Before death, he became delirious, and expired in dreadful 
agony. Water within both sides of the chest — from six to eight 
quarts ; pleura intensely inflamed ; costal portion every where 
most minutely and thickly injected ; pulmonary portion, covering 
the lungs, likewise injected, but it had also become gangrenous — ■ 
it exhibited a green hue ; lungs partly tuberculated ; otherwise, 
and particularly in the interim, they were sound." — Hippo- 
pathology. 

From the tuberculated state of the lungs, there was, probably 
Mine previous indisposition, which accounts for the rapid course 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 77 

of the disease. The author has made several post mortem exami- 
nations of pleuritic cases, and has always found the substance of 
the lungs more or less involved, and a question has arisen in his 
mind whether or not the pleuritic affection was antecedent to the 
pulmonary Some physicians, and among them Mr. Percivall, 
doubt if " inflammation is ever fully developed in the pleura with- 
out extending to the lung, or vice versa. It is not a question 1 
shall trouble myself to solve ; all that is necessary for us to know, 
in my opinion, is the fact, that, when inflammation is invading 
these parts, it is sufficiently predominant in one to induce us to 
regard that as the chief or principal seat of disease, and to treat 
♦lie ;ase in accordance with such views ; and that it is, compara- 
tively, rarely so equal in its attack of the two parts as to lead us 
to believe that one is quite as much the object of our care as the 
other. There are cases enough of pleuro-pneumonia, perhaps 
more than of any other description ; still 1 contend, that in almost 
all of them we shall find either the lungs or the pleura to be the 
part primarily and principally affected, and as such, as I before 
observed, to be the especial object of treatment." 

Symptoms of Pleurisy. — Like most forms of acute and febrile 
diseases, pleurisy commences with uneasiness, puffing and blowing, 
and pain. One feature about this disease, which distinguishes it 
from all others, is, that the patient is very unwilling to turn in a cir- 
cular direction ; he will turn his head and gaze anxiously at the 
sides, expressive of pain in that region ; but if you attempt to 
move his body round, he utters something like a grunt, or sup- 
pressed groan, indicative of the pain excited by the movement. 
The surface of the body has a hot, dry feel, showing beyond a 
doubt that the insensible perspiration is suppressed. Still, how- 
ever, we must bear in mind that the insensible perspiration may 
be quite profuse without becoming sensible; for if the atmosphere 
be warm and dry, and thus able to carry off, in the form of vapor, 
the fluid which is poured out on the skin, it cannot be perceived, 
and we may be deceived in our diagnosis.* Every one known 

* Although no evaporation frorr the skin can take place when th° surround- 
ing atmosphere is loaded with vapor, the secretion of the perspiratory glandi 
continues; and does so even vhen the skin is immersed in fluid, provided thn 
fluid bo of high temperature. Hence we see that the conditious unfair which if 

7* 



78 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

that the drying of a cloth is much more rapidly effected hi a 
warm, dry atmosphere, than in a cold, moist one ; more quickly, 
too, in a draught of air, than in a situation where there Is no cur- 
rent, and where the air is consequently soon charged with moisture. 
As an illustration, we were once treating a case of pleurisy in an 
unventilated, damp stable, and observed that our patient sweated 
profusely ; it was a clear day, the wind westerly, our patient was 
placed under a shed in the open air : soon, the surface became 
dry and hot ; after remaining there for the space of five hours, 
the hair and skin had an unpleasant, feverish feel, although the 
general feature, aside from this, remained the same. After being 
led to his old quarters, the surface soon became moist again. 
Therefore atmospheric influences must always be considered. 
The membranes of the eye are generally injected with arterial 
blood ; the pulse is quick and wiry ; mouth hot and dry ; a slight 
hacking cough is sometimes observed, and pressure between the 
ribs always elicits pain. The disease, if not arrested, generally 
terminates in effusion — dropsy of the chest. 

Treatment. — As in all other inflammatory diseases, the prin- 
cipal object will be to equalize the circulation, thus lessening the 
determination of blood to the pleura ; to effect which, it will be 
necessary to keep the horse under the exhibition of nauseants— < 
lobelia or ipecac. English surgeons use hellebore in this view, 
but we prefer a compound in the following form: — 



is poured forth are peculiar to the living body alone, and entirely different from 
those under which simple evaporation takes place. The purpose of this watery 
exhalation, and of its increase under a high temperature, is evidently to keep 
the heat of the body as near as possible to a uniform standard. By the erapo 
ration of fluid from the surface of the skin, a considerable quantity of heat ia 
withdrawn from it, becoming latent in the change from fluid to vapor ; c f this 
we make use in applying cooling lotions to inflamed parts. The more n.pid the 
evaporation, the greater is the amount of heat withdrawn in a given time. 
Hence, if we pour on separate parts a small quantity of ether, alcohol, and 
water, we shall find that the spot from which the ether is evaporating feels the 
coldest, and that which is covered by the alcohol less so, whilst the part 
moistened with water is comparatively but little chilled. The greater the 
amount of heat, then, applied to the body, the more fluid is poured out by thfl 
perspiratory glands ; and as the air can carry it off more readily in proportion 
to its own heat, the evaporation becomes more rapid, and its cooling effect 
jaore powerful. — Carpenter's Physiology. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 7l< 

Ipecac, . ~) 

Lobelia, . £ of each, powdered, 1 ounce. 

Bloodroot, } 

Mix. Divide in six parts, and give one in warm water twic t a day 

Then take vinegar, 1 pint, 

" mustard, 4 ounces, 

" tincture of capsicum, . . 2 ounces. 

Rub this briskly over the region of the chest, and over all apply 
flannels wrung out in warm vinegar. Keep the flannel in closo 
contact with the parts by passing a cotton roller several timoa 
round the body, which, together with the application, may be dis- 
continued so soon as sufficient counter irritation or soreness ia 
insured. We have found it necessary in some cases to apply the 
same counter irritant to the fetlocks ; it may create great uneasi- 
ness, but it is beneficial at times, for we know that every muscu- 
lar effort of the animal tends to favor the passage of the blood 
through its capillary floodgates, and tends to the more equal 
distribution of that fluid. At the same time, we must remember 
that the foot of a horse, in consequence of its highly-organized 
arterial and venous structures, is apt to take on a specific form of 
inflammation, termed laminitis, on the application of an exciting 
irritant. And the pleural difficulty, in some cases, may gravi- 
tate, by a process termed metastasis, — which implies the shifting 
of a disease from one part to another, — to the feet, and thua 
produce a disease almost as difficult to treat as the one now un- 
der consideration. Therefore due caution must be observed in 
local applications of this character. 

To allay pain and calm the nervous irritation, we use 

Powdered assafoetida, . ) - „„ . , ,, . „ 
» pleurisy root, \ of each 1 drachm. 

Sirup of garlic 2 ounces. 

Thin gruel, . 1 pint. 

Two or three doses of this given at intervals of twelve hourd 
will probably suffice. 

Ir, cases where the lungs are involved in the disease — which 
may be known by the presence of a troublesome cough — th« 
following drench has been found of great value: — 

Sweet spirits of nitre, ... 3 drachms. 

Balsam copaiba, £ an ounce. 

Mucilage of gum Arabic, . p ounces. 

To be repeated at discretion 



80 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

The state of the bowels must be attended to ; and, although i( 
might not be proper to excite peristaltic action by drastic cathar- 
tics, yet if the case needs it, we may venture on a mild aperient, 
Euch, for example, as the following : — 

Glauber salts, .' 6 ounces, 

Powdered gentian, 3 drachms. 

Warm water sufficient. 

Provided the bowels do not respond at the end of twelve 
or sixteen hours, the dose may be repeated. In the mean 
tittO, however, it will be proper to administer injections of 
sal. and water. During the whole stage of the disease, the 
food must be light, composed of slops, gruel, scalded shorts, or 
linseed tea. 

During a practice of nine years in the city of Boston, we have 
had but few cases of pure pleurisy ; there are cases enough, no 
doubt, but still other diseases of the respiratory apparatus are 
more common among the horses of New England. The infre- 
quency of such cases may be accounted for from the fact, we be- 
lieve, that it often presents itself in a chronic form, and as the sub- 
ject is not actually incapacitated for work, he goes on, from day to 
day, until the owner becomes convinced that all is not right, and 
not until then does he seek advice ; the case has then assumed 
a complicated form. The following is a case in point. In the 
month of May, 1853, a dark roan gelding, the property of a 
gentleman residing at Cambridgeport, was put up at a stable in 
Roxbury, for sale ; the horse remained there about a week ; 
nothing was observed about him that looked like disease, except 
that he breathed " a little short at the flanks." On the 2d 
day of June, the horse was loaned to a gentleman to drive, with 
nn understan ling that if the animal suited, the party would pur- 
chase him. lie was driven but a short distance when it waj dis- 
covered that something ailed the horse ; the driver noticed that 
his charge panted hard at the flanks, and required urging to get 
\iim beyond a walk. He was put up at the nearest stable, and 
the next day our attention was called to him. "We found tlw 
patient with a quick, wiry pulse; skin hot; breath fetid; the 
Banks heaving; slight cough ; and a discharge of thick, yellow 
•natter, streaked with a dark-colored fluid. He evinced great 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 81 

pain when pressure was made on the intercostal spaces. We 
had him backed out of the stall, but found he moved with great 
difficulty, and showed evident signs of pain. lie grew rapidly 
worse, and at the end of four days died. The medical treat- 
ment was little else than palliative, but it had no sort of efft ct on 
him ; effusion had already taken place ; two days before he died, 
the breath became so offensive that it was impossible to en- 
dare it. 

"We find, on reference to Percivall's Hippopathology, the fol- 
lowing passage referring to the forms of pleurisy : " The kinds 
or forms of pleurisy are two — acute and chronic : one may 
follow the other ; or the chronic kind, as well as the acute, may 
exist by itself. Although consisting, as far as we know, both in 
inflammation, they appear quite opposite diseases ; one is full of 
activity and expression of pain and irritation ; the other compara- 
tively painless, tardy in its progress, and apt to continue many 
weeks before it will come to any issue." 

CONSUMPTION. — (Phthisis.) 

Horses and the human subject are alike liable to this awful 
malady ; in fact, it may be said to spare neither age, sex, pro- 
fession, nor species ; yet there are certain periods in the life of both 
man and animals when the disease is more likely to make it:i 
appearance. A colt may be the offspring of a mare classed as 
one of the consumptive diathesis ; the germs of tubercles may ex- 
ist in the system of the former at birth, yet may not develop such 
a disease as phthisis, nor unfit the animal for the ordinary busi- 
ness of a working horse for many years. Such an animal, if 
ased at work in the country, where he has the advantage of pure 
air, and simple, yet nutritious diet, and being the property of au 
individual who practises a judicious system of management, may 
live to the average age of such description of property. There 
are locations, however, that may be said to be favorable for the 
development of consumption, such as low, wet lands, where the 
humid atmosphere * prevents a full and free evaporation of tho 

• " It has been ascertained by experiment that when a warm atmosphere 



62 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

insensible perspiration ; such an atmosphere is no less injurious 
than that of a crowded, unventilated stable. A horse may b« 
attacked with pneumonia, which may run through its varioua 
Btages, and finally end in tubercles, or pulmonary consumption. 
Perverted nutrition, in a constitution predisposed to the develop- 
ment of this malady, may be equally prolific with the former; 
for if the fibrine of the blood be imperfectly elaborated, it is less 
it to undergo organization ; and, consequently, instead of being 
jonvertad into living tissue, part of it is deposited as an unorgan- 
ized mass, resulting in tubercle. In the predisposed, such de- 
posits take place more frequently in the lungs than any other 
part, and besides impeding the circulation and respiration, they 
produce irritation and inflammation, in the same manner that 
other foreign bodies would when imbedded in any of the tissues ; 
eo that the issue, although often postponed for several years, is most 
generally fatal. Most medical writers agree in the opinion that, 
when tuberculous matter is once deposited in the lungs, there is 
no getting rid of it. Microscopic examinations of tubercular 
matter show that it consists of half-formed cells, fibres, &c, 
together with a granular substance, which seems to be little else 
than coagulated albumen. 

As regards the existence of tubercles at birth, Mr. Percivall 



loaded with dampness, is breathed, there is rather an absorption than an exha- 
lation of aqueous yapor ; and the same may, probably, take place, in a less de 
gree, in an ordinary atmosphere, when the body has been drained of its fluid 
In this manner, perhaps, we are partly to account for the extraordinary in- 
crease in weight which the body undergoes by absorption from the atmosphere, 
under peculiar circumstances. 

" That absorption may take place through the lungs is evident also, frorn 
tile effe-js upon the system of certain gases, which act as virulent persons, 
even when respired in small proportion. Thus a bird is speedily killed by 
breathing air which contains no more than l-1500th part of sulphuretted hy- 
drogen; and a dog will not live long in an atmosphere containing l-800th part 
of this gas. 

" The effects of carburetted hydrogen are similar ; but a larger proportion is 
required to destroy life. Both these gases are given off by decomposing ani> 
mal and vegetable matter, the neighborhood of which is very injurious to 
health. It is chiefly by preventing the accumulation of such substances tha 
iiu efficient drainage becomes so important a means of preserving health and 
Vromoting life." - Dr Carpenter on Secretion. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 83 

Beems to have some doubts ; for, says that writer, " we seem 
to lack proof of this being the ease ; whereas we have had demon 
stration enough of horses ' breeding the disease ' in their con- 
stitutions." 

The history of pulmonary consumption in the human family 
H .instantiates this opinion ; for men of broad chest and iron consti- 
tution have been known to fall victims to pulmonary disease of this 
i haraoter, when we know that the man predisposed, as it is termed, 
is the one of narrow chest, spare muscles, tall frame, and slendei 
limbs. On the same principles we characterize the colt with 
oairow chest, flat sides, long legs, and spare muscles, to be the 
one most subject to phthisis. 

Our own opinion is, that the evils of domestication have as 
much, if not more, to do with the development of this form of 
pulmonary disease than predisposition. We will introduce to 
the reader's notice a single illustration of the evils of domestica- 
tion : — 

" When I came to the farm which I now hold by purchase, I 
found the stables built under large trees, and near a spring of 
water, with a northern aspect. My horses were soon in poor 
condition, with long and rough coats, and almost always lax in 
their bowels, nor could I get them up by extra food or lighter 
work ; but my cows suffered most, for they were always sick. 
Their milk fell off, and their butter was poor, and of a bad color 
and taste, and four of them slipped their calves before their time. 
When the spring came, they left their winter quarters in a worse 
eiate than I had ever seen them, and two of them died from the 
scours on going to pasture. On inquiry, I found that the tenant 
Vkho had left had always been what the neighbors termed unfor- 
tunate in his horses and cattle; and from that cause, more than 
any other, he had not been able to make both ends meet. The 
truth flashed upon me in an instant, and in a very little timn 
longer than it has taken me to tell you my story, I had com- 
menced pulling down the stable, the unhealthiness of which had 
been, I was convinced, the cause of all the evil and all the loss : 
sind it was not more than two days before there was not left on<, 
ctone upon another of the whole fabric. I nr w set to work and 



g4 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

erectod another on higher ground, removed from water, and cleai 
from the shade of trees, with a south-east aspect, and dry, capa« 
cious yaid ; and from that day I have had neither sickness noi 
sorrow in my out-door household." — Boston Cultivator. 

This is only one among the many evils of domesticated life, 
and he who would prevent sickness, and thus save himself frcn 
loss and vexation, must know something of the laws of life, and 
be able to understand how, and by what means, disease and death 
stride through his flocks and herds. 

SYMPTOMS OF PHTHISIS. 

In the early stage of the disease, the hide appears tight about 
the ribs, and cannot be so easily raised from its subcellular 
attachments — horsemen often express their idea of this feature 
in the case by the appellation hidebound. The owner of such an 
animal may have observed that he sweats under the least exer- 
tion, and sometimes coughs, though the cough may be so slight 
as not to attract notice. This may also apply to his condition, 
which has in so insidious a manner been falling off that the owner, 
who may have had the patient continually under his inspection, 
yet does not actually realize that there has been a gradual wast- 
ing of the solids and fluids of the body, which to the man of ex- 
perience would be very apparent. 

As the disease progresses, the respiration becomes somewhat 
disturbed, and a glance at the flanks shows what is generally 
termed slight abdominal respiration. The cough, which is gen- 
erally a short, dry one, has increased. Pressing on the intercostal 
spaces — between the ribs — gives the animal pain. The pulse 
is quick and small, and the spirits are occasionally depressed. 
Sometimes the appetite is good, and the patient eats with con- 
siderable relish ; at others he seems indifferent to food, but will 
generally partake of grass if offered to him. 

In the latter stages, all the symptoms are aggravated, followed 
by fetid breath and discharge of bad-looking matter from the 
nostrils. Dropsical swellings, diarrhoea, and great emaciation 
terminate the scene. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 8S 

We have given the reader merely an outline of the symptoms 
uf this scourge of animated creation ; much might be written in 
detail concerning it, very interesting and instructive to the 
student of veterinary medicine, yet unprofitable to the practical 
man, — the man of toil and care, — whose occupation does not 
admit of so thorough a course of training as that required by the 
former. It will be noticed, however, in addition to the foregoing 
symptoms, that the horse scarcely, if ever, during the latter — 
and indeed it may happen so during the early stage — never lies 
down ; and that the nostrils are always distended, and appear 
l hin around their margins. 

Treatment of Consumption. — The main feature in the treat- 
ment of the malady contemplates the invigoration of the system, 
by good, nutritious diet, — including, if possible, green food, — > 
gentle exercise, pure air, and if the weather be cold, warm cloth- 
ing : by the due employment of these means in the early stage, 
perhaps, many valuable horses might be saved. 

As the tubercles seem to be formed at the expense of albumen, 
such articles should be given as are known to be rich in that 
material : milk, for example, should be allowed to the amount of a 
quart per day. It is a well-known and exceedingly interesting 
fact, that milk affords us the only instance in which nature has 
provided a single article of food for the support of the animal 
body ; and as it contains so large a proportion of albumen, besides 
oil and sugar, it must be a valuable agent in the treatment of 
consumption. We know of no better way of strengthening the 
faith of our readers in this simple, yet sanative agent, than to 
remark, that all the tissues, organized, and if — there are any — 
unorganized, are formed from the albumen and fibrine of the 
blood ; gelatine) may be detected in them, however, yet that also 
is formed from albumen and fibrine. Gelatine taken in the fonri 
of jelly, soup or broth, although very useful in the treatment of 
prostrating diseases, cannot be applied to the nutrition of the 
albuminous tissues. 

" Some experiments have recently been made in Paris on this 

subject, with a view of determining how far the soup made from 

crushed bones, which constituted a principal article of vliet in thu 

liOspili;is of Paris, wa£ adequate for the support of the patients 

ft 



60 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

The result of these has been quite confirmatory of previous 
conclusions, namely, that gelatine may be advantageously mixed 
with albumen, fibrine, gluten, &c, and those other ingredients 
which exist in meat, soup, and bread, but that when taken 
alona, it has little more power of sustaining life than sugar or 
starch possesses." 

We know that an animal may be effectually starved to death 
on sugar or starch ; and many articles of diet hitherto con- 
sidered highly nutritious have failed to support life. — See Lie- 
I/ig's Chemistry. 

From these and other considerations, which we might urge, 
milk is superior to every other agent in the treatment of pulmo- 
nary consumption. The principal drawback in cases of great 
prostration, however, is, that the digestive apparatus may be in- 
volved in the deterioration of the system, and be unable to digest 
the fatty constituent, (butter ;) hence, in the exhibition of a daily 
allowance of milk, attention must be paid to the nutritive func- 
tion, or such a simple article as milk may prove a barrier to our 
efforts at cure. In a recent case of pulmonary consumption in 
a horse that came under the author's care, one pint of milk, 
mixed with two ounces of lime water, was given twice a day, 
with decided benefit ; on omitting it for a few days, the horse 
rapidly grew worse, but seemed to rally in a most surprising 
manner on resuming the milk treatment. The case was not seen 
by us until it had become confirmed, or it might, perhaps, have 
terminated favorably. This, however, may be considered as 
assuming too much ; but we have great confidence in the milk 
and lime water treatment, aided by whatever medicinal agents the 
nature of the ca.se seems to require, and therefore recommend 
car readers to give it a fair trial. 

We use lime water in conjunction with milk with the same 
view that human physicians have in prescribing phosphate of 
lime for a "breaking up of the constitution," and lime water ie 
considered very useful for irritable stomach and other maladies 
of the digestive apparatus. 

Proceeding on the dietary principle, with a view of supplying 
materials to repair the waste of the body, we recommend greeD 
vegetables, vith the addition of oat-meal, pea-meal, linseed-meal, 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. O.' 

and wheaten flour. A liberal quantity of salt * mu !t be mixed 
with this description of food, for it not only aid;; digestion, but 
abstracts fluids from the body, and thus creates a desire for other 
fluids. Now, the abstraction of the morbid fluids of the body, and 
the substitution of water to supply the loss, must be beneficial ; 
for, literally speaking, it cleanses the body by infiltration, the 
whole body being considered cellular. Aqueous drinks, which 
include water and hay tea, are rapidly absorbed without under- 
going digestion, and are therefore indicated in all cases of diseased 
lungs, whether salt be used or not. 

For the medicinal treatment of this disease we recommend 

Phosphate of lime, 
Powdered bloodroot, 1 

pleurisy root, I , , „ 
Indian turnip, f ot eaca Z ounce8 » 
'* goldenseal, J 

" slippery elm, 1 pound. 

Mix ; and divide the mass into twenty-four powders ; one to bo 
given in the food every night. 

This compound is best adapted to the disease after it has 
made some progress ; but in the incipient or early stage, and pro- 
vided the patient be not the subject of debility, the following will 
be best adapted to the case : — 

Powdered bloodroot, } 

" ipecacuanha, > of each 1 ounce. 
" lobelia, j 

Mix : divide the mass into twelve parts, and sprinkle one in the 
food night and morning. These powders may be continued as 
long as the horse shows signs of strength and spirits ; they are 
calculated to nauseate and debilitate, and no fear need be enter- 
tained from the horse showing but slight symptoms of debility or 
shortness of breath, which may follow their use. 

During the various stages of the disease, the horse should be 
occasionally drenched with an infusion of one of the following 
urticles : liverwort, skunk cabbage, hoarhound, Solomon's seal, 
or tansy. 

"Warmth and moisture, m the form of a steam bath, and the 

Salt consists of muriatic acid and soda ; the former is the essential ingre- 
iieut in the gastric juice whilst the latter performs a very important put in 
the pi Tduct'in of oile. 



88 THE MODERN HOR3E DOCTOR. 

eponging of the body with warm saleratus water, if the weather 
is not too cold ; in either case, dry frictions afterwards will exert 
a favorable action on the cutaneous exhalants. 

Injections of soap and water are to be given should the excre- 
ment be voided with difficulty, or appear knotty. 

STRANGLES. 

Strangles may set in from the same causes that induce other 
catarrhal diseases. It is most prevalent in young horses : from 
" eolthood" ' * up to the eighth year; after which the disease is 
somewhat rare. We have seen several well-marked cases occur- 
ring in Pennsylvania, and in Vermont breeds shortly after their 
arrival in this city ; their ages varying from five to eight years 
As far as our own experience goes, we have nothing to say as to the 
extent of its prevalence in eolthood, for we do not remember ever 
having been called to treat such a case ; yet there may be a great 
number of colts attacked in the course of a year, and get over it ; 
of this we have no means of knowing. We hear, now and then, 
that such a colt has just recovered from the li horse ail ;" but the 
ambiguousness of the term throws a pall over the nature of the 
disease, which may, perhaps, be strangles. The disease is, with- 
out doubt, one of the evils of domestication, and results from 
errors in diet, and in the general management, which, if we except 
a few isolated cases, will bear improvement. If it be a disease 
resembling " small-pox, measles, or an eruptive fever occurring 
but once in the animal's lifetime," — as some writers contend, — 
then the sooner every horse has it the better, and we need not 
trouble ourselves about its causes, for those who have attempted 
to penetrate the hidden secrets of nature, and bring to light the 
mysterious cause of a definite disease, have failed, and thus hud 
their labor for their pains. But Mr. Percivall sets the matter at 
rest, for in answer to the question, Do strangles, in any firm, 
occui in all horses? he answers, "No! Many, in my opinion, 
escape it." Hence, if many escape, it is very natural for those 

•Mr. Percivall, in his Hippopathology, records a case of strangles orcuiriri(f 
m a colt six months old, and also states that Mr. Coward hadtbserved the die 
sase at three months after birth. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 89 

who know the value of pure air, natural food, and exeroise, to 
conclude that the colt while enjoying these great luxuries by the 
side of its mother, guided by her superior mind, (instinct, if you 
please,) is not liable to be attacked with a disease which, as 
already stated, we believe to result from depriving animals of 
those blessings which nature has in store for them in their unre- 
strained state. But it often happens that young colts, after 
running a season with their mother, partaking of the invigorating 
country air, grow up to be strong and robust ; and then the period 
arrives for weaning them. How changed the scene ! Instead 
of being permitted to gambol in their native element, they are 
confined to a small space, not large enough to swing a cat round, 
and perhaps as dark as the grave ; and the animal, after fretting 
for a season, and making unsuccessful efforts to escape from its 
prison house, tamely submits to the discipline, not, however, until 
he has cut, and bruised, and otherwise injured himself. We were 
called, a short time ago, to visit a young colt that had lacerated his 
head, breast, and fore legs in a most shocking manner, in making 
an attempt to escape through a window from the horrors of con- 
finement. His companions were about a dozen cows, more calcu- 
lated to alarm and render his position a perilous one than other- 
wise ; and the impure atmosphere, rendered so by the emanations 
from the excrements, and from the lungs of his companions, was 
a source of great mischief. Then, who can blame such a one for 
attempting to escape and regain liberty ? If strangles should 
appear in such a subject, it would not be surprising. 

Then, again, take a colt from its mother, whose milk contains 
all the elements for sustaining life and developing the organization 
of the young subject, and place it upon a diet of hay or like innu- 
tritious trash, a whole truss of which would not afford one half 
tho quantity of nutriment contained in a quart of its mother's milk. 
However profitable and well adapted hay may be for stock of 
mature growth and powerful digestive organs, it is a sad mistake 
to suppose that it will do for the young. A case of this kind 
name under our observation lasi year. The subject, aged two 
und a half years, died in a state of marasmus.* Post mortem 

• A gradual wasting of the s)stem without any apparent disease. 

8* 



£)(* THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

examination failed to detect any disease other than general 
emaciation. On making inquiries concerning the food, the owner 
replied, " The colt has been fed on good sweet hay and cornstalkr 
ever since it was weaned." This was capital food for the poor 
thing, provided, however, its stomach had a grist mill within it ; 
otherwise, it was hard fare, and must derange the digestive func- 
tion, and ere the colt has attained maturity, dyspepsia, in either 
a mild or aggravated form, has secured a victim. 

The reader will perceive that there is a great difference between 
a young animal enjoying the privileges of a natural life, partaking 
of nutrhnental agents adapted to its condition and welfare, and 
another that shall be shut up in a dark, filthy prison house, — 
perhaps, however, he may be permitted the range of the barn 
rard, which is as bad, if not a worse place, than the barn itself, 
— and while living in this artificial condition, partaking of food ill 
adapted to its constitution. 

Knowing, then, as we do, that in the difference between a 
natural and artificial life exist the chief causes of disease, in its 
diversified forms, then we certainly have just grounds to believe 
that many young colts reared and fed at a distance have many 
diseaoes which the residents of large cities know nothing of, 
neither as regards the disease nor the means used to get rid of it. 
They may have had strangles, yet the owner assures his friends 
it was only " horse ail " — something which horse dealers sup- 
pose every animal is attacked with at some period of life. Under 
the above abuses, colts are as liable to strangles as a full-grown 
horse. 

The disease is set down by authorities as wow-contagious — not 
"catching." We have no desire to discuss this question, but 
leave it for those who, from more extensive experience, are better 
qualified to judge of the matter. We always take the precaution 
to separate the patient from healthy animals, and would recom- 
mend this as a general rule in all catarrhal affections. We now 
come to the symptoms and treatment of strangles, which the fol- 
lowing case will illustrate: — 

The subject was a gray gelding, aged seven years, the property 
of Mr. B., of Boston, which was suffering with an attack of (so 
called) horse ail. The animal had b^en on° its feed for two 01 



THE MODERN HORSE DOOTOR. 91 

three days previous, and appeared dull and unwilling to work; 
consequently the owner ordered him to be laid up, and procured 
unother to do the work. At this stage our attention was called 
to him. On applying the finger to the submaxillary artery, (at 
the angle of the jaw,) found the pulse fifty per minute, and strong 
in character. The respirations were not attended with any pecu- 
liarity, being about seventeen ; yet Ave noticed slight abdominal 
respiration, — commonly denominated heaving-flanks — heaves. 
The coat looked rough ; skin tight ; and a hollowness of the 
flanks, just sufficient to denote debility. 

On exploring the throat, a knotty tumor, occupying the space 
between the jaws, was found, which appeared hot and tender; 
the throat also was sore ; for the animal was very unwilling to 
have it handled. The parotid glands — beneath the ear — ap- 
peared tumefied. The membrane — Schneiderian — of the nose 
was red — injected; mouth hot; tongue coated with a white fur. 
and somewhat dry, indicating fever and thirst. On inquiring, 
was told that the animal coughed occasionally. 

Treatment. — Ordered the animal to be clothed warmly, to be 
fed on thin gruel, and the drink to have the chill taken off. Did 
not prescribe any medicine, other than a little sup. tart. pot. — 
cream of tartar, to be given in the drink.* 

On visiting the patient next day, March 1, 1851, the tumor 
under the jaw and surrounding parts had enlarged considerably ; 
the whole pathological symptoms of the previous day were aug- 
mented; with the additional tumefaction of the cheeks and lip&, 
cold extremities, aad constipated bowels. 

Treatment. — Ordered the legs to be rubbed and bandaged , 
the diet to consist of thin gruel acidulated with cream of tartar ; 
and the following mixture to be applied around the jaws and 
throat: — 

Olive oil, 4 ounces. 

Acetic acid, (distilled vinegar,) . 1 ounce. 



* Horses laboring under febrile symptoms, and having a coated tongue, have 
not that acute sense of taste which we find in healthy ones ; hence they will 
often drink with avidity what at other times they would refuse to swallow ; and 
this is a fort-mate circumstance for both doctor and patient ; for the former ia 
spared «oroe trouble, and the latter some pain and excitement. 



92 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

The rectum was relieved of its contents by the following enema 

Powdered aloes, 4 drachms, 

Hot water, 2 quarts, 

Common salt, 1 drachm. 

March 2. The tumefaction has fearfully increased and spread 
yet is very hard ; the animal makes a distressing noise in effort* 
to breathe ; stands in a fixed posture, with the head elevated, 
tumble to move it. 

Treatment. — Prepared a poultice of slippery elm, linseed, 
lobelia, and poplar bark, which was moistened with water and 
vinegar, equal parts. This was quilted between two pieces of 
cloth, with a view of distributing it over a large surface, and then 
applied and confined around the throat. The head was also 
6teamed with a mixture consisting of four ounces of tincture of 
lobelia, and one pint of vinegar, poured upon a red-hot brick held 
beneath the nose. This appeared to give some relief. 

March 3. This morning, the slaver flows out of the swollen 
mouth, and there is a slight discharge of matter from the nostrils ; 
the animal appears in great agony, and is almost sufFocatiug. On 
removing the poultice, the tumor appeared very tense, yet soft at 
a point near the thyroid cartilage : on striking a spring lancet 
into it, a volume of purulent matter, streaked with blood, issued, 
and continued to run in a perfect stream ; the orifice was after- 
wards enlarged with a button-pointed bistoury. The quantity of 
matter discharged was beyond any thing we had ever seen before, 
amounting to several pints, and, to judge from the collapse of 
the surrounding parts, must have occupied a large space in the 
cellular tissue. Relief was immediate, and the poor horse seemed 
to manifest gratitude by looks and actions not to be mistaken. 
On offering him a little thin gruel, he drank it greedily, and looked 
round for more ; and no wonder, for during the past thirty-eL* 
hours he had not tasted any thing. 

Treatment. — The discharge of the pus was accelerat 3d by ap- 
plying a broad bandage drawn moderately tight around the parte 
The diet to consist of scalded bran and oatmeal. 

Visited the patient again in the evening, when the bandage 
was removed, the parts cleansed, and afterwards sponged with a 
cold infusion of bayberry bark — astringent. Gave the following 
iraught : — 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 9S 

Powdered podophyllum, ... 2 drachms, 

Extract of boneset, 3 drachms, 

Cream of tartar, 4 drachms, 

Warm water, 1 pint. 

Did not get more than half of it down, owing to the sthTnens of 
the neck and the unwillingness of the patient to swallow. 

March 4. Found the patient greatly improved ; appetit€ 
pretty good; excretions, dung and urine, scanty, yet natural; 
discharge from the throat less copious. The parotid glands as 
<arge as a man's wrist, also the submaxillary and thyroid glands 
still enlarged. Prescribed the following embrocation : — 

Neatsfoot oil, 1 pint, 

Spirits of camphor, 4 ounces, 

Pyroligneous acid, 3 ounces. 

To be applied to the glands night and morning, and one of the 
following powders to be given in the food at the same time : — 

Powdered gentian 2 ounces, 

" goldenseal 1 ounce, 

" pleurisy root, . . 1 ounce, 

" licorice, 1 pound. 

Divided into six parts. 

March 7. On leading the patient out of the stall, he appeared 
somewhat stiff in the limbs. The swelling has all subsided, with 
the exception of the parotid glands, which are quite large. The 
discharge has almost abated, and the animal appears in good 
spirits, and has a natural appetite. 

From this date the animal was daily exercised, and returned 
to his usual diet, and in the course of a fortnight was put to work. 
The parotid glands, however, were enlarged for some weeks after 
but gradually decreased under the daily application of a stimulat- 
ing liniment. 

Contagiousness of Strangles. 
We learn from the Veterinarian that M. Reynal, clinical pro- 
fessor at the Alfort School, submits a number of observations 
corroborative of the contagious character of strangles. He states 
that " H oung horses having strangles, and put into stables with 
horses of adult age, doing their duty, have communicated the dis- 
ease to those of the latter who have stood in adjoining stalls, 
though some few have only exhibited the disease in a catarrhal 



94 THE MOD EI. N HORSE DOCTOR. 

form. Even the foal has been known to suck the disease from 
its dam. 

" Moreover, experiment has been had recourse to, to inoculate 
for strangles. 

"M. Damalix smeared with a sponge impregnated with mat- 
ter taken from the abscess of strangles, twice daily, both sides of 
the pituitary membrane and the internal surfaces of the linings of 
the eyelids, in a sound horse, about to be cast for spavin. Thia 
was continued for seven days. On the eighth, he remarked, th« 
horse had lost his appetite, had commenced running from Doth 
nostrils, coughed softly and loosely, had swelling under the jaw, 
which ended in resolution ; all the symptoms terminating eight 
days from their commencement. 

" It has been remarked that strangles is more surely communi- 
cated at an early than a late stage, and in a certain form more 
readily than in others. Strangles will assume the herpetic char- 
acter, will simulate farcy and glanders, will settle in the mesen- 
teric glands, or may follow castration. In regard to contagion 
may be mentioned, as most readily communicable, this form of 
strangles, which assumes the character of eruptions on the lips, 
nose, and pituitary membrane." 

BRONCHITIS. 

Veterinarians recognize this disease under three aspects, viz. 

1. Acute, as when the horse is suddenly attacked with an irrita- 
ble cough and sore throat, with the usual febrile symptoms, sucb 
as quick, wiry pulse ; membranes of the nose and mouth redder 
than usual ; accelerated respiration ; great anxiety of counte- 
nance, &c, &c. 

2. Chronic bronchitis, which sets in after the acute has sub- 
sided ; this stage is marked by a discharge of watery and some- 
times mucous fluid from the nose ; the act of respiration is 
performed with a sort of wheezing noise, which is caused by ob- 
struction within the bronchial vessels, either from contraction, by 
which their calibre is lessened, or else from a thickening of the 
lining membrane, or, lastly, from the accumulation of sero- mu- 
cous fluid within their cavities, of which they are somewhat re- 
lieved in the act of coughing. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 91 

3. The third variety has been named epidemic bronchitis, be- 
ftuuse like other epizootics, it retains its character in every part 
of the globe, and appears to maintain its influence in certain lo- 
cations, to the exclusion of other forms of disease. There may, 
however, be some difference in the severity of the disease at the 
commei cement, height, or decline of the morbid period. 

" Thf epidemic variety," says Percivall, " is remarkable foT the 
emission of copious discharges or fluxes from the nose, at una 
time turning yellow, at another green, and then again white. la 
this form the disorder is exceedingly apt to assume the chronic 
type, and, after continuing for a length of time, to leave the ani- 
mal reduced in flesh, and much debilitated." There is no doubt 
in the mind of the author, that many of those cases of abdominal 
respiration noticed among horses in the New England States, 
and commonly termed " heaves," is the result of bronchitis, which 
leaves the upper air passages in a contracted state, or else thick- 
ens their lining membrane. 

Treatment. — Bloodletting has ever been extolled as one of 
the main dependences in the cure of bronchitis ; but as we have 
no faith in the curability of such diseases by the fleam, of course 
we cannot recommend the practice to the reader. To equalize the 
blood so that there shall be no excess in the membranes of the air 
passages, seems more rational than to abstract it. In view of pro- 
ducing so desirable a result, we use drachm doses of powdered lobe- 
lia seeds twice a day. Most veterinarians, however, recommend 
powdered hellebore, in half drachm doses, twice a day, preceded 
by free abstractions of blood. The lobelia is to be continued, to- 
gether with warmth and moisture to the external surface, until, 
from the softness of the pulse and moisture on the surface, we 
are certain that the remedy has taken effect. This is not all 
that is to be done ; for the mucous membranes must be sheathed 
by lubricants, so as to protect them from the effects of the morbid 
accretion continually flowing over their surfaces ; and no better or 
cheaper article than slippery elm can be found. A small por- 
tion of the p< wdered bark is to be stirred into a given quantity 
of boiling waier, until it forms a mucilage just thick enough for 
a drink ; to a pint of which add two ounces of sirup of garlic 
to be given twice daily. Counter irritants applied in the vicinity 



96 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

of the throat, trachea, and chest, do much good ; blisters and setona 
are highly extolled, but they only torment the patient, and in- 
crease the irritability of, not only the parts to which they are ap- 
plied, but the animal also ; and then we cannot regulate their 
action so well as we can that of other agents of a more sanative 
character ; for the pain and irritation will sometimes remain a 
long time after their removal. A good effect is generally pro- 
duced from the occasional application of essence of white mus- 
tard seed, tincture of capsicum, and we have witnessed favorable 
results attend the use of essence of cedar. When a relaxing 
effect is desirable — and we do not know but such is always so 
in bronchitis — the following can be used : — 

Vinegar, 1 pint, 

Powdered lobelia, .... 2 ounces. 

Let the above simmer over a slow fire for a short time, and ap- 
ply it to the throat two or three times a day. The throat should 
be encircled with a piece of soft flannel. 

The bowels are to be kept loose ; not by purgatives, for their 
action on the digestive surfaces is sure to make matters worse ; 
the patient must be kept on a sloppy kind of diet, well seasoned 
with common salt. Fine feed, scalded, and placed before the 
animal while warm, answers two purposes, viz., that of relaxing 
the engorged surfaces of the nose and throat from inhaling the 
warm vapor, and also has a relaxing effect on the bowels, which 
are apt to become torpid sometimes, from no other cause than 
want of exercise. If the patient be carried through the various 
stages of bronchial difficulty, with an eye single to his comfort and 
convenience, and proper attention is paid to the wants of nature, 
the skin kept moist, the bowels loose, the patient having the ad- 
vautages of a pure atmosphere, then the case, if it is a curable 
one, is sure to terminate favorably. So long as the patient mani- 
fests febrile symptoms, the drink should consist of water, acidulated 
with cream of tartar, and an occasional enema must be adminis- 
tered. In the treatment of bronchitis, whether it be acute, 
chronic, or epidemic, the patient must be removed from the nox- 
ious effluvia arising from the bodies and excrements of other 
animals, for they are highly deleterious when reintroduced into 
the 'living body of an animal which, in consequence of disease, is 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 9? 

nnable to resist their influences. Mr. R. D. Granger has lately 
written some interesting remarks on the influence of noxious 
effluvia in the origin and propagation of epidemic diseases, an 
extract from which we here introduce. " That the effete matter 
eliminated from the system is small in amount is no objection to 
the intensity of its action ; for to the physiologist it is well known 
that a minute quantity of a powerful agent — the putrid matter in- 
troduced on the point of a needle, in the dissection of the dead — 
cr a single drop of prussic acid placed in the mouth of an animal — 
is sufficient to destroy life. It is in the over-crowded bed rooms, 
iD unventilated schools, workhouse dormitories, &c, that this 
effete matter taints the air, and, entering the blood, poisons the 
system." 

CATARRH. 

Definition. — A sero-mucous defluxion from, commonly, both 
nostrils, increased redness of the Schneiderian membrane, lining 
the nostrils ; oozing of tears from the corners of the eyes ; swell- 
ings underneath the jaws ; snorting ; cough, with or without fe- 
brile disorder. — Percivall. 

It is well known that many of the most formidable diseases ta 
which mankind and animals are subject originate in a common 
cold ; hence such a common affection should always receive our 
earliest attention, for its treatment is then a very simple affair : 
perhaps, if proper attention were paid to the general management 
of catarrhal subjects, the disease would subside spontaneously ; 
provided, however, the subject be free from latent disease. But 
it often happens that catarrh is symptomatic of several other dis- 
eases, and then will require a special course of treatment. As 
regards its spontaneous cure, we may remark, that in our crowded 
itables such termination may be very rare, for various causes 
M*e in operation to retard rather than favor it. If a horse be in 
jcodjlesh, (which generally means a state of plethora,) and kept 
n a hot stable, catarrh will generally be attended with a cough 
tnd quickness of breathing. Now, if the weather is favorable, 
le may be turned out in the daytime, and partake of green food ; 
when taken up for the night, a bran mash should be given. This 
change of air and diet will contribute much towards the cure. 
9 



&8 THE MODERN HOKbE DOCTOEC. 

People generally suppose that cold and exposure are the sole 
causes of catarrh ; yet it is a well-known facl, that many hcrses 
take cold even though they have not, within several days, somo 
times weeks, been in a situation where cold could be taken after 
this fashion; in short, have not left their warm, comfortable 
Btables. But we must remember that a high temperature is just 
as likely to bring on a cold' as any other cause, especially whet 
the? subject has been liberally fed ; and, indeed, veterinary writera 
of the present day teach that catarrh, in general, oftener arises 
from heat than cold. But after all, an insalubrious atmosphere 
may be set down as the chief cause of common colds. 

Treatment of common Catarrh. — If the weather be cold, lei 
the animal have comfortable quarters, and a good bed of clean 
straw. A blanket may be thrown over the body, and the legs 
should first be well rubbed with a wisp of straw, and then ban- 
daged with flannel. It has often been remarked, that if a man's 
feet are cold, his whole system is chilled, and the same may be 
said of the horse ; for, so long as the feet of the latter are cold, 
we cannot expect to equalize the circulation, or restore the ex- 
halant function. The diet should consist of scalded shorts, and 
these should be given warm, for the steam arising from them aids 
the nasal discharge, and relaxes local strictures. We have fre- 
quently given, with good effect, a quart of linseed tea, sweetened 
with honey, night and morning. If the throat is sore, a little 
powdered bloodroot may be added. The soreness of the throat 
may be relieved by the following : — 

Olive oil, 8 ounces. 

Oil of cedar, 1 ounce. 

To be rubbed around the parts night and morning. Yet, ill 
ilight cases, a simple flannel bandage fastened around the neik 
might answer the purpose just as well. We frequently emploj 
the following, with a view of regulating the fecretions, and lubri 
c&ting the mucous surfaces : — 

Powdered elecampane, 2 ounces, 

" licorice, 4 ounces, 

Cream of tartar, 1 ounce, 

Powdered bloodroot, 4 drachms, 

" slippery elm, 8 ounces. 

Mix ; divide into eight parts, and give one night and morning. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 99 

Treatment of severe Catarrh. — The same directions as re- 
gards clothing, diet, &c, just enumerated, apply also to this form 
of disease — gruel made of Indian meal, to which a few kernels 
of garlic may be added, and boiled with the same until they are 
quite soft. A very liberal allowance of this beverage must be 
got into the horse ; if he is not inclined to drink, pour it down 
his threat from a bottle, remembering, however, that the parts 
around the throat are sore, and require you to proceed in the 
most gentle manner. Be kind to your patient ; let him know, by 
the manner in which you handle him, that your intentions are 
friendly ; but, above all, do not elevate his head higher than 
necessary, nor pour down the liquor faster than he is able to 
swallow it. The principal object in the treatment of this form 
of catarrh is, to restore the function of the skin, which is one of 
exhalation ; and for this purpose we resort to nauseants. The 
following is the best we know of: — 

Powdered ipecacuanha, 2 drachms, 

" lobelia, 4 drachms, 

" bloodroot, 2 drachms, 

" assafretida, 1 drachm. 

Mix ; divide into four parts, and give one every four hours, in 
mash or gruel : if administered in gruel, add two ounces of honey, 
and continue the same until the whole external surface feels 
warm, which generally happens after the administration of from 
four to six powders. It is not advisable to continue them too 
long when the patient is in poor condition, for the medicine is 
rather prostrating than otherwise. Keep the rectum empty with 
injections of warm water, into which a small quantity of soft 
Boap rm.y be stirred. 

If the discharge from the nostrils is thick and tenacious, steam 
the head, as recommended in article Strangles. A very trouble- 
some cough may be relieved by adding to the gruel one drachm 
of fir balsam, or balsam copaiba. If the patient is unwilling to 
have i. draught administered, and refuses to swallow it, even 
though he is handled in the most gentle manner, and the cough 
is sc troublesome that something must be done, then give 

Balm of Gilead buds, (chopped fine,) ... 1 ounce, 

Powdered skunk cabbage, (ictodes foetid.,) . 3 drachms, 

" slippery elm, . . 3 ounces, 

" lobelia 2 drachms. 



100 THE MODERN HORSE DOCl'Oh. 

Mix ; divide, into three powders, and give one in the food, three 
times, daily. The nasal passages may be kept partially free from 
accumulations, by blowing into them, from a quill, a portion of 
the following catarrh snuff: — 

Powdered bayberry bark, } 

" bloodroot, > equal parts. 

" lobelia, ) 

Catarrh, occurring in any description of live stock, may be 
treated on the general principles here alluded to. As regards 
th3 proper doses of medicine to be given to animals differing in 
age, sex, or kind, very little need be said ; for the agents are san- 
ative, and a small quantity in addition, or less than the doses here 
prescribed, as the case may be, is of no material consequence. 
Aid the vital powers ; use agents favorable to physiological ac- 
tion ; administer such in small doses, and often ; practise good 
uursing ; and disease will, in most cases, terminate favorably. 

NASAL GLEET. 

Nasal gleet is considered a chronic affection of the Schneiderian 
surfaces. The discharge consists of a thick, yellow mucus, and if 
the animal be at grass, it assumes a green color. At times it 
becomes purulent, tinged with blood, and if not arrested at this 
stage, it may finally end in ulceration of the cartilages of the 
nose : we then have a case of glanders. In the early stage of 
this complaint, we often have enlargement of the superficial 
glands under the jaw, and this has led many who do not under- 
stand the nature of the case to pronounce the subject glandered. 
The discharge is neither persistent nor uniform; for in fine 
weather it sometimes subsides for several days at a time, and 
returns after a wet day, if the animal is exposed to the rain or 
cold ; also increasing and decreasing with the fluctuations of 
the weather. 

In cases where the discharge confines itself to the left nostril, 
becomes tenacious, elastic, and accumulates around the edges of 
the nasal cavities, and is accompanied by enlargement of the 
lymphatic submaxillary gland on this side, with a drooping of 
the ear, we may be prepared for the worst ; for ten chaoces tc 
tme if it does not terminate in glanders. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 101 

Treatment. — Inject the nasal passages by means of a mid- 
dling-sized syringe, daily, with an infusion of bayberry bark ; one 
ounce of bark to a pint of boiling water ; to be set aside until 
cool, and then strained through fine linen. The constitutional 
remedies consist of 

Grains of paradise, 
Powdered marshmallows, I 

" sulphur, > equal parts. 

" charcoal, 
White mustard seed, J 

Dose, 1 ounce, daily. 

Half an ounce of balsam copaiba, and two drachms of sweet 
spirits of nitre, should be given occasionally in thin gruel. 

In a case of this kind, good nutritious diet is indicated. The 
limbs and body must be kept warm, and all exposure avoided. 

ROARING. 

Roaring is considered as a symptom of some mechanical 
obstruction, or abnormal condition, in or about the upper respi- 
ratory passages. " The various collected reports that have been 
made from time to time on the state of the air passages of 
roarers, have shown that all of them have produced the effect 
in one of three ways, viz., either by contraction of the pas- 
sage or its orifice ; by distortion or deformity of it ; or by ob- 
struction within ; and this difference of causation, together with 
the part or place in which it exists, will serve still further to 
account for the various kinds of, or rather sounds emitted in, 
roaring." 

Roaring is frequently occasioned by a thickening of the mem 
brane lining the respiratory passages, by which their calibre in 
diminished. It often follows laryngitis, catarrh, influenza, bron- 
chitis, &c. It is apt to follow putrid sore throat ; at such times 
we may expect to find ulcerations of the membrane of the larynx, 
or they may happen to be ulcerated ; and if so, there will be a 
discharge of glairy fluid from one or both nostrils. The thyroid 
cartilages occasionally become ossified, from the absurd practice 
of confining a horse's head in an unnatural position, and from 
pressure by the throat latch, which absurd practice is also apt to 
9* 



102 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

produce distortion of the larynx or windpipe ; the result is thet 
the same- 
Roaring may also be occasioned by pressure on the throat 
from tumors, &c, from tonic spasm, and from ati'ophy of the 
parts We have always supposed that the seat of roaring was 
jonfined to the upper respiratory passages ; but the following case, 
related by Mr. Percivall, goes to show that the lungs may be 
come its seat. " A horse was treated for violent roaring. The 
neck was repeatedly blistered ; it was even fired ; but still no 
relief. So painful was it to hear the animal roar, when he was 
even gently led out of the stable, that bronchotomy was had re- 
course to, but without avail. At length, seeing the animal suf- 
fered so much pain and distress in breathing, and that the case 
appeared altogether insusceptible of being relieved, it was de- 
termined to destroy him. On examination, no thickening of the 
laryngeal or tracheal membrane appeared, nor, in fact, any other 
disease of those parts ; but the lungs were hepatized throughout 
their substance, and the smaller divisions of the bronchial tubes 
in many places so compressed that they were hardly pervious." 
To prove the nervous origin of roaring, Mr. Field made the 
following experiment : " Having ascertained that the organs of 
respiration of a horse used for farming purposes were sound, I 
cast him, and laid bare the recurrent nerve of the off side, and 
passed a ligature loosely around it ; he was then allowed to get 
up, and, after a few minutes, galloped severely without evincing 
the slightest defect in his breathing. The nerve was then drawn 
out by the ligature, and one inch and a half of it excised ; and 
immediately on only trotting the horse a short distance, such a 
degree of roaring was occasioned, that, had the exertion been 
iontinued, he would soon have fallen. 

" I kept this horse four years, and though his breathing became 
Diuch better, he continued a sad roarer ; at the end of that time 
I destroyed him, for the purpose of procuring the larynx, which 
exhibited the usual condition of wasted muscles (atrophia) on the 
side deprived of the influence of the recurrent nerve." 

Treatment of Roaring. — The intelligent reader will here per- 
ceive, that in the majority of cases very little hopes can be enter- 
tained of a cure, and in fact, the defect cannot be cured unless we 



THE MODERN HOESE DOCTOR. 108 

can remove the exciting cause ; and that, in cases of distortion, 
hepatization, &c, is beyond our art. If the difficulty be at all 
removable, we know of no better way to accomplish it than by 
improving the general health of the subject, in the use of propei 
diet, expectorants, and relaxants ; by steaming the nasal passages, 
&c. If it arise from atrophy of the muscles, let them be stimu- 
lated daily with hartshorn liniment, or some such application, 
and frequent hand rubbing. If from tumors, let them be removed. 
If ths thyroid glands are enlarged, they should be rubbed daily 
rr,th stimulating liniment, or ointment of iodine. The horse 
eLould at all times have the free use of his head and neck, or the 
best treatment might fail. Should the cause of roaring evidently 
exist (below the fauces) either in the bronchii, trachea, or lungs, 
the operation of tracheotomy may be preferred, which consists 
in making an opening into the trachea, and through it inserting 
a tube, which may be worn for any length of time, by taking the 
precaution to cleanse it occasionally. See Tracheotomy. 

COMMON COUGH. 

Cough is defined as a sonorous concussion of the thorax, pro- 
duced by the sudden expulsion of air through the vocal organs. 
It is present, and often causes some annoyance to the patient, 
when suffering from catarrh, laryngitis, bronchitis, strangles, horse 
ail, &c. Cough is present also in cases of deranged digestive 
organs, and when a quantity of worms are present in the diges- 
tive cavity. We examined a horse once which was the subject of 
chronic cough from diseased liver. During life the mucous sur- 
faces were always more or less tinged with bile ; Le was subject 
to constipation also. The post mortem revealed a tuberculous 
liver. A common cough, therefore, may attend various forms of 
disease. In many cases of a catarrhal character, when a quantity 
of mucus accumulates in the respiratory passages, the act of 
coughing ejects it, and thus relieves the animal ; therefore, a 
cough of this kind may be salutary rather than otherwise, and 
in that event needs no treatment. 

A sympathetic cough can only be cured by directing our reme- 
Jies tu the seat of the malady ; that cured, the cough ceases. 



104 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

It does not interfere with the treatment of any disease, how 
ever, to use simple remedies to mitigate a cough which seems so 
intense as to cause the patient some annoyance ; in this view we 
resort to 

Powdered slippery elm, "J 
" Indian turnip, I 
" elecampane, V of each 4 ounces. 
" skunk cabbage, I 
" caraway seeds, J 

Dosft, half an ounce twice a day, in gruel. 

A cough may sometimes continue after the disappearance of 
pulmonary disease, catarrh, influenza, &c. : for this we prescribe 

Balsam of fir, 1 ounce, 

Sweet spirits of nitre, .... 2 ounces, 
Sirup of garlic, 4 ounces. 

Dissolve the balsam in the nitre, then add the garlic. Dose, one 
ounce, night and morning ; to be given in mucilage or thin gruel. 
For an old chronic cough that seems likely to wear the animal 
out, and also the patience of its owner, depending perhaps on 
some organic change, or irritable state of the respiratory surfaces 
use counter irritation, and give a dose of the following, night and 
morning : — 



Powdered pleurisy root, 
" licorice, 
" lobelia, 
" sulphur, 
" sassafras, 

" bloodroot, 



> equal parts. 



Dose, one ounce, night and morning, for the first two days ; then 
omit the morning dose. To be mixed with the food. 

A cough occasioned by derangements of the digestive organs, 
or from worms, &c, may be always relieved by the following : — 

Powdered worm seed, 
Whole mustard seed, 
Castile soap shavings, 
Powdered goldenseal, 

» poplar bark, > of each 1 ounce. 

" sulphur, 

" salt, 

" charcoal, 

Mix ; and divide the mass into eight parts, and give one eveiy 
night in the food. 

In the treatment of any kind of cough, the horse should be de- 
prived of his usual amount of water, and be compelled to drink 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 10(l 

some flaxseed or slippery elm tea. If the throat prove sore, bath? 
it eveiy night with tincture of capsicum. 

TRACHEOTOMY. 

This operation consists in making an opening into the windpipe 
to admit air to the lungs, when the natural passage is obstructed 
by foreign bodies, or when its calibre is lessened by tumefaction 
occasioned by disease. In severe cases of laryngitis, strangles, 
and their kindred diseases, when the patient seems almost suffo- 
cated, tracheotomy should be immediately performed. In per- 
forming the operation, we select a spot about six inches below the 
throat, in front of the neck, and over the region of the windpipe ; 
an incision is to be made with a common penknife, (in lieu of a 
better instrument,) to the extent of two or three inches, in a down- 
ward direction, so as to lay bare the trachea ; having exposed 
space sufficient, a circular piece between two rings, corresponding 
to the size of the tube, is to be cut out, and a short tube inserted, 
which can be confined in position by means of tape passed around 
the neck. When the obstruction is removed, or the fauces restored 
to their natural state, remove the tube, bring the edges of the 
integuments together, and sew them up. 

BLEEDING FROM THE NOSE. — (Epistaxis.) 

Common hemorrhage from the nose is not of itself dangerous, 
for we never knew, nor do we ever remember hearing, of its being 
fatal; it merely indicates a congestive state of the nasal, and 
sometimes the cerebral membranes, or blood vessels ; as a symp- 
tom, therefore, which it really is, of local congestion, it informs us 
that there is an unequal distribution of the circulating fluid, or 
else the patient is plethoric. In either case the treatment is 
simple : we merely cool the head, warm the limbs, give a dose 
or two of laxative medicine, exercise the patient, and regulate 
the diet according to circumstances. When the blood appears 
frothy and of a dirty color, issuing from one nostril only, the 
breath being fetid, the respirations somewhat hurried, attended 
by cough, the owner had better consult a veterinary surgeon 
for the horse is proatly, or will be, the subject of slanders 



rfOC THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



HEAVES, OR BROKEX WIXD. 

Clironic heaves is that condition of a horse which veterinarians 
designate as broken wind. In cases of this character, the act of 
inspiration is followed by a violent heaving motion of the ribs and 
flanks ; this is the source, probably from whence the term heavet 
uj derived. 

The disease bears some resemblance to asthma in the human 
sabject, for in each there is nearly the same difficulty in respi- 
ration, attended with dyspepsia and emaciation ; there is this differ- 
ence, however — in man there are remissions ; while in the horse 
witli confirmed heaves (broken wind) there is scarcely any cessa- 
tion. It is quite common, in Massachusetts, to hear horsemen 
define every case of abdominal respiration as heaves: such are not 
to be considered, however, as so many cases of broken wind In 
order to make out a pure case of the latter, we must have a kind 
of jerking double flank movement in the process of expiration. 
Distention of the lungs, or inspiration, must also be followed by a 
corresponding expansion of the chest and flanks. A slight cough 
is generally present, which has a wheezing sound, sometimes 
resembling a sort of grunt, and the subject is a confirmed dys- 
peptic having a voracious appetite, staring coat, large belly 
(tympanic), spare muscles, dull miserable look, drooping head, 
unwilling to travel fast, and when urged to do so, becomes soon 
exhausted and " used up ; " the excretions also indicate derange- 
ment of the digestive organs. These are the principal symptoms 
of broken wind, and we have generally found these present in 
what is called " heaves." 

Regarding the nature of broken wind — which, howen r, is a 
very funny name for a pathological condition of this character — 
it originates in disease occurring either in the organs of digestion 
or of respiration ; the former affecting the latter, through the 
sympathy that is known to exist between them, or else from 
innutrition — the digestive organs failing to furnish the proper 
amount of nutrimental matter to supply the respiratory apparatus 
with its required fuel. The lungs, or rather its air cells, are then 
dilate 1, while the respiratory passages and lining membranes are 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 10<f 

contracted or lessened in calibre, either from contraction of their 
tubes or thickening of their lining membranes ; and this state 
of the parts is all that we require to explain the peculiar phe- 
nomena of abdominal respiration. 

Yet there are various states and conditions of the respiratory 
apparatus which may give rise to broken wind ; in fact, any 
organic change that permits dilatation of the air cells and bron- 
ihial tubes, without a corresponding enlargement of the upper 
«,ir passages, they retaining their original size, may result in 
broken wind. In some cases the lungs are emphysematose — 
their substance inflated with the gases of the body, without per- 
ceptible rupture of parenchyma ; a state resembling that known 
as pneumatosis, a collection of air under the cellular tissue of 
the skin ; they are then specifically lighter, and larger, than 
their natural state. Iu such cases we often find the diaphragm 
in a state of atrophy, pale and attenuated, from over-distention 
and extra work. The direct causes of heaves or broken wind 
are over-exertion and indigestion. 

Treatment. — The object is to improve the patient's health; 
and if we can do this successfully, an improvement in a curable 
case generally follows. We must restore digestion in order to 
cure indigestion, and in this view Ave give aromatic tonics ; the 
following we have used with considerable success : — 

Tincture of aromatic sulphuric acid. 
Written for, by physicians, thus : — 

Tr. acid sulph. aro. 

Dose, one drachm in a pint of water, night and morning. Mosf 
animals, however, will drink it from a bucket. In the mean 
time we put the animal on a course of the following alterative 
medicine : Powdered ginger, gentian, sulphur, salt, cream of 
tartar, charcoal, licorice, elecampane, caraway seeds, and balm 
of Gilead buds (chopped fine), equal parts. Dose, one ounce 
every night in the food. 

Changes iu diet, exercise, and management, calculated to fulfil 
the indications alluded to above, are indispensable. So soon as 
considerable improvement is perceptible, the aromatic tincture 



108 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

should be omitted ; and, instead of giving one ounce of the alter 
ative as a dose, give half an ounce night and morning. A broken 
winded horse should always be watered from a bucket, regular! j 
three times a day ; and if he be a foul feeder, arm him with a 
muzzle, and only remove it at meal time. In addition to the 
above remedies, we occasionally allow a small quantity of garlic, 
say a couple of heads every other day, chopped fine, and mixed 
in ths food. 



EXPLANATION OF CUT. — MALE ORGANS. 



i Posterior vena cava. 

2 Posterior aorta. 

3 Sxipra renal capsules. 

4 Kidneys. 

5. fjreters. 

6. Bladder. 

7. The bladder laid open to show its mucoas coat. 

8. Vesicate seminales, or seed receptacles. 

9. Prostate glands. 

10. Vasa deferentia ; these transmit the semen to its receptacles. 

11. Epididymis. 

12. Testicle. 

13. Tunica vaginalis, or covering of the testicle. 

14. Spermatic arteries and veins. 

15. Corpora cavernosa, or body of the penis. 

16. Urethra. 

17. Glans penis, or head. 

18. Orifice of the urethra. 

19. External tunic of the penis. 



DISEASES OF THE URINARY ORGANS. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS. — (Nephritis.' 

In the horse the kidneys are considered the great emunctories, 
their office being to carry off a large amount of superfluous ex- 
crementitious fluid. If any one will examine the urine of an 
animal that is allowed an unlimited quantity of hay and grain, he 
will find the urine thick, ropy, and of a bad odor. This is most 



Tfifc. ilODEIiS HOUSii DOCTOR. 



iOS 




Y0v\A\S^ 



MALE ORGANS OE GENERATION. 



110 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

likely, however, to happen when the animal is not regularly 
worked. It is very natural to suppose that urine of this kind, 
abounding in morbific materials, should irritate the membranea 
lining the urinary organs, and result in a high grade of inflamma- 
tory action. Yet the disease may arise from other causes. "We 
have known it produced by repeated doses of gin and saleratus, 
and spirits of turpentine ; but generally, these agents involve the 
ureters and bladder in the inflammatory diathesis. It has gen- 
erally been considered that the disease is often brought about by 
over-exertion, either in drawing heavy loads, or in holding back 
{shaft horses) on going down hill ; in fact, immoderate work of 
any kind might result in a disease of this character. 

Symptoms. — A constant desire to void urine, although only 
passed in small quantities, high colored, and sometimes tinged 
with blood, though more generally quite natural. There is usu- 
ally a peculiar stiffness in the hind extremities, especially when 
the horse is made to describe a circle. Pressure on the loins 
elicits symptoms of pain, and the pulse and respirations denote 
febrile symptoms. 

Treatment. — Apply a cold water bandage to the loins, and 
administer a drench composed of 

Linseed oil, ? • «■ * v, 

Mucilage of slippery elm, £ pint o. eacn. 

Enemas of warm water should be given daily. The less luid 
the animal drinks, the better; and the best drink, under the cir- 
cumstances, is flaxseed tea. Should the horse refuse to partake 
of it, a sloppy mess, made of oatmeal and boiling water, will 
answer and he will probably prefer it to the former. In a few 
cases, which were considered of recent origin, we have prescribed 
a solution of muriate of iron, in doses of two fluid drachms, twice 
^ ^av, and we have reason to think that the remedy did some 
good. The article should be turned into pure water, and offered 
to the patient in a bucket. This preparation of iron is a valuable 
tonic, and in chronic cases will generally prove serviceable. In 
the acute stage, and after the bowels have responded to some 
mild cathartic, either linseed oil, Glauber salts, or a decoction of 
marshmallows will have a beneficial effect. The decoction is 
thus prepared Take of marshmallow roots, dried and bruised, 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. Ill 

eig'it ounces, water three quarts ; boil down to two quarts. When 
cool, strain, and give a pint every six hours, until the horse is 
relieved. 

This simple treatment, aided by a light diet and rest, will 
generally effect a cure. If, however, the disease arises from 
concretions within the cavity of the kidneys, the case will require 
the aid of a skilful veterinary surgeon. 

The author has noticed in stables celebrated for the number of 
horses with a stiff, straddling gait, laboring under an attack of 
acute or chronic form of nephritis, that there is, generally, a 
bountiful supply of rosin on hand, and on several occasions has 
learned that the parties having charge of the animals are much 
in favor of diuretic medicine, and think it absolutely necessary to 
give a dose now and then. This haphazard dosing is no doubt 
the cause of the mischief; for diuretics, which generally act with 
extraordinary power on the horse, diverting the excrementitious 
fluids from the skin and lungs, are apt to produce inflammation, 
and thus induce chronic disease of the kidneys. Many horses 
that can readily be found suffering from what their owners term 
strain of the loins, are, no doubt, so many cases of chronic dis- 
ease of these organs. 

On chronic disease of the kidneys, Mr. Percivall writes, " I 
am inclined to think that nephritis, in a mild or subacute form, 
exists in many instances, wherein, from the trifling perceptible 
alterations induced by it in the ordinary health of the animal, wo 
are apt either altogether to overlook the disorder, or else to re- 
gard it as too unimportant to notice. Horses are often broughi 
to us with complaints of pain and difficulty in staling — of the 
urine they pass being thick, foul, or bloody ; and which horses 
probably may, on inquiry, be found to show some stiffness about 
the lains when first brought from the stable, though by use the 
parts soon gr'w pliant again. And yet in a general way they 
exhibit every sign of health. With these facts we may counect 
the circumstance of occasionally discovering, in horses which have 
died from other causes, purulent matter within the kidneys, and 
now and then disorganization of their substance, and without any 
thing having occurred during life to direct our attention tc 
those orgrans." 



112 THE 5I0DERX HORSK LOCTOR. 

As it is a common custom to administer diuretics to horses 
when the urine does not appear just about right, it may be well 
for us to notice some of its variations: — 

" 1. In respect to age. In the foetus it is inodorous, insipid, and 
almost aqueous ; but as the young grow, it becomes more acrid 
and fetid, and in old age more particularly so. 

u 2. In respect to drink. The urine is secreted in greater quan 
tity, and of a more pale color, from cold and copious draughts. 

"3. In respect to food. From eating the heads of asparagus-, 
or olives, it contracts a peculiar smell ; from the fruit of tho 
opuntia it becomes red ; and from fasting, turbid. 

" 4. In respect to medicines. From the exhibition of rhubarb 
root it becomes yellow ; from cassia purple-green; and from tur- 
pentine it acquires a violet color. 

"5. In respect to the time of year. In the winter the urine is 
more copious and aqueous ; but in the summer, from the increased 
transpiration of the skin, it is more sparing, highly colored, and 
so acrid that it sometimes occasions strangury. The climate 
induces the same diiference. 

" 6. In respect to muscular action of the body. The urine is 
secreted more sparingly, and concentrated by motion ; and is 
more copiously diluted and rendered crude by rest." 

From the above remarks, which to some extent apply to horses, 
and from the result of experiments made on horses, we learn 
that the urine is subject to great variations ; and therefore, should 
it not appear natural, diuretics are not always indicated. 

It is generally supposed that diuretics act on the kidneys in a 
much shorter time than other classes of medicines do on various 
other parts of the animal economy. Magendie explains this on 
the principle that diuretics, in the fluid form, " are directly ab- 
sorbed by the veins, and transported by them to the liver and 
heart, so that the direction which these liquids follow, in order to 
reach the bladder, is much shorter than is generally admitted, 
viz., by the lymphatic vessels, the mesenteric glands, and the 
thoracic duct." We have said that simple treatment, light diet, 
and rest will generally effect a cure of nephritis ; we must, how- 
ever, have a curable case, and be permitted to attend to it in tho 
?arly stage, for cases of this kind sometimes terminate in degen 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 115 

eraticn of the kidney, and result in death. A. case of softening 
of the kidney has been communicated to the Veterinarian, by Mr 
Cartwright, who observes, " Each kidney was found to be in a 
complete state of putrefaction, of a light bluish ^olor ; its texture 
bo totally destroyed that the finger would pass through any pari 
of it as through so much mud. The vessels of the kidneys did 
uvt appear diseased as I drew them out of the diseased masses." 
Diseased kidneys are apt to terminate in abscess, mortification, 
hypertrophy, condensation, induration, &c. Such cases are apt, 
however, to baffb the best medical skill. For information or 
these terminations of nephritis, consult Hippopathology, DAr- 
boval, and the Veterinarian. 

BLOODY URINE. — (Hematuria.) 

The voiding of blood with urine is generally indicative of an 
injury sustained by some portion of the urinary organs, either bj 
falls, blows, bruises, or strains. It may, however, arise from in- 
juries directly inflicted on the tissues by urinary calculi, &c. 

A discharge of blood with urine is generally attended witk 
acute pain, evinced by the peculiar motions of the animal, whicL 
are readily recognized. 

The voiding of such urine is often attended with danger, 
especially when mixed with matter of a purulent character. 

In some of the diseases of horses and cattle, manifesting a pu 
trid type, the urine is of a color resembling blood ; such general 
ly terminate fatally. Now and then cows void very high-colored 
urine. It is considered, generally, a disease, and receives the 
appellation of red water, although in many cases it is a link in a 
chain of symptoms, which, if carefully traced, will be found to 
be connected with a disease of gastric origin. 

If a horse voids pure blood, it may be known by inspecting 
the urine ; some of it should be caught and examined , if found 
to contain small coagula, it may be pronounced bloody urine ; oth- 
erwise we must not be too hasty in our opinion ; for a high state 
of inflammatory action pervading the urinary apparatus — the 
liver, &c., give rise to discharge of urine very much resembling 
bloody. When the trouble can satisfactorily be traced to a blow 
10* 



ll* THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

strain, over-exertion, or whatever cause it may be, our treatment 
is somewhat similar to that for inflammation of the bladder and 
kidneys. When owing to calculi being present in the ureters o» 
tlsewhere, our remedies must be palliative ; mucilaginous drinks, 
enemas, warm or cold water bandages to the loins, rest, and an 
occasional aperient, if necessary, to clear out the bowels, are 
among the most rational means in use. To relieve pain, if it be 
very acute, let the patient be drenched with 

Powdered assafoetida, 2 drachms, 

Tincture of Indian hemp, 1 drachm, 

Thin gruel 1 pint. 

Mix , and administer from a bottle, once or twice, daily, as the 
urgency of the case demands. 

The symptoms usually noticed by the attendant, in cases ot 
hematuria caused by the presence of urinary calculi, are, that 
the patient appears dull, very uneasy, frequently lying down and 
getting up again. Urinary calculi can only be removed by a 
skilful veterinary surgeon. 

THICK (ALBUMINOUS) URINE. 

Those who have the care of horses frequently complain that 
their charges pass " thick, ropy " urine ; and, in order to remedy 
the supposed evil, they too frequently resort to strong diuretics, 
and in nine cases out of ten they do more harm than good. 
Thick urine is at times an evil that only exists in the imagina- 
tion of the groom ; for horses that are over-fed, or even fed on 
grain of an inferior quality, are often known to pass albuminous, 
at least thick, ropy urine, and in the course of a few days it again 
assumes its natural properties. There can be no need of diuret- 
ics in such cases. It does not follow that because a horse passes 
u thick " urine, his urinary organs are diseased ; far from iL 
The chemico-vital powers of digestion cannot always control 
the heterogeneous affinities that exist between the various agents 
known as fodder, foul bedding, &c. ; consequently they often fer- 
ment or decompose, and thus give rise to noxious compounds, 
which must be eliminated or the animal would soon fall sick. 

"When a plethoric horse has copious sediments in the urine, 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 115 

we may consider that it is a favorable omen, and that the tissues 
are relieving themselves of useless matter. 

Albumen is generally present in the urine in many diseases 
of an acute character, such as inflammation of the lungs, pleura, 
liver, peritoneum, and heart, and hence can only, under the cir- 
cumstances, be considered as a symptom, rather than a disorder 
of itself, and a favorable symptom, too ; for Dr. Bird has adduced 
evidence to show that in many disorders there is a steady and 
considerable increase in the quantity of solid excreta whenever 
(he patient improved, and as remarkable a diminution when the 
symptoms relapsed.* 

It is a well-established fact, however, that in cases of diseased 
kidney, termed Bright's disease, the urine becomes albuminous , 
but so far as our observation goes, the disease so prevalent in 
the human family is very rare in the horse. Should any dis- 
ease of these organs exist, it may be known by the straddling 
gait, and other symptoms enumerated under the head of Inflam- 
mation of the Kidneys. 

The urine, at times, has a thick, gelatinous, straw-colored ap- 
pearance, containing a large amount of excrementitious material; 
this is not to be confounded with albuminous urine, for horses 
very frequently pass very thick, and to all appearances morbid 
urine, especially when fed high and worked but little. The 
urine of this kind can always be improved by proper attention to 
the horse's management. Albuminous urine is known by being 
of bright-yellow color, of the consistence of jelly, and can be 
lifted from the floor between the fingers, in the form of shreds 
or strings. 

Should the owner of the horse feel desirous of doing some- 
thing to liquefy the urine, and give it a more natural appear- 
ance, ■ — although we do not think that the horse, in all cases 
would be benefited thereby, — he may give the following: — 

Pcwdered assafoetida, 1 ounce, 

" poplar bark, .... 8 ounces, 

" juniper berries, .... 2 ounces. 

Mix ; and divide the mass into eight parts, and give one night 
and morning, in the food. 

* On Urinary Deposits, &c, by Dr. G. Bird. 



116 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

It may bo proper, in all cases where the horse passes, for an>( 
length of time, urine that appears to be albuminous, for the own- 
er to consult a veterinary surgeon. 

CAUSES OF ALBUMINOUS URINE. 

u M. Ed. Robin lately read a paper on the above sut ject beforo 
the Academy of Medicine of Paris. TVe subjoin an abstract of 
the 6ame : In the normal state the albumen is burnt in the blood, 
and the nitrogenized residue of this combustion, viz., urea and 
uric acid, is eliminated by the urine. The combustion is, how- 
ever, not so complete as not to allow some little albumen to 
escape with the renal secretion ; but this albumen, besides being 
very small in amount, is somewhat different from the ordinary 
kind. M. Robin thinks that if during a sufficiently long time 
the albumen underwent in the circulation a much smaller amount 
of combustion than is habitually the case, it might pass unaltered 
into the urine, instead of being thrown off in the form of urea 
and uric acid. The author cites the following facts in support 
of his opinion : — 

" The urine becomes albuminous in croup, in complete ascites, 
and in cases of capillary bronchitis, with emphysema, accom- 
panied by much dyspncea ; in pulmonary phthisis, especially when 
complicated by pneumonia and marked with difficult breathing ; 
in gestation, when sufficiently advanced to occasion an habitual 
congestion of the kidneys, owing to an impeded abdominal circu 
lation ; and in such states of the system in which a very incom- 
plete, respiration causes a marked diminution of combustion. 
The urine is also albuminous in cyanosis of whichever nature it 
may be ; in affections of the heart, when they exist in such 8 
degree as to keep the patient in a state of semi-asphyxia ; and, 
of course, in such cases where an obstacle to the cheulation of 
the blood, or a malformation of the heart, prevents the hremato- 
ais from being as rapid as under ordinary circumstances. The 
nrine is likewise albuminous in idiopathic or traumatic lesions of 
the nervous centres, which cause a lowering of temperature, and 
thereby a marked decrease of combustion ; in diabetes, a disease 
where very often a lesion of the nervous centre seems to be the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 117 

origo mail ; where the great abundance of sugar in the blood 
eeems to be an obstacle to the combustion of albumen ; and 
where, finally, the natural heat is lowered by one or two degrees 
with patients who are severely affected. The urine is albumi • 
nous in that kind of nervous exhaustion which characterizes tho 
state of frame called lumbago, which exhaustion must be con- 
nected with a great diminution of calorification and slow com- 
bustion. The urine is likewise albuminous in consequence of 
severe exposure to cold of a large surface of the body. Finally, 
Bright's disease, where the urine is always albuminous and 
anaemic, is especially attributed to many of the causes which 
have been above enumerated as capable of exciting the passage 
of albumen into the urine. 

" The author continues by stating that some useful data may 
be obtained from comparative physiology. As a general rule, 
the urine of the common mammalia and of birds contains no al- 
bumen. Among reptiles, on the other hand, the batrachia, so 
remarkable for the low temperature of their animal heat, yield 
urine in which albumen is always to be found. It now remains 
to be proved, says M. Robin, that the urine becomes albumi- 
nous under the influence of such agents as interfere in a marked 
degree with slow combustion. The author then adduces the 
following conclusions : — 

" When the activity of the combustion which takes place in 
the blood is too feeble to burn the whole of the albumen which, 
in the normal state, should be consumed in a given time, the gen- 
eral vitality is diminished, and thus more or less albumen is al- 
lowed to pass unaltered into the urine, viz., just so much organic 
matter as escapes the transformation into urea or uric acid. 
The proportion of urea contained in albuminous urine should, 
therefore, be smaller than it is found in normal urine, and such 
is found to be the case in the following diseases, the only ones, 
according to the author, in which experiments have been made, 
viz., pulmonary phthisis, diseases of cerebro- spinal axis, ex 
tensive and acute bronchitis, with intense dyspnoea, and Bright's 
disease." — Percivatt. 



118 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOK. 



PROFUSE STALING. — {Diabetes insipidus.) 

Profuse staling — when there is an immoderate flow of urine 
of its usual color and odor — is technically named diabstea 
insipidus ; but we doubt very much if it can with propriety bo 
considered as a disease, for mere augmentation of urine can bo 
brought about at pleasure ; we have only to give the animal a 
dose of gin, juniper, or sweet spirits of nitre, or let him drink 
large quantities of water, as animals sometimes will when thirsty, 
and then let the subject stand in a cold place ; an immoderate 
flow of urine generally follows. 

On p. 345 of Hippopathology, we read that "simple aug- 
mentation of urinary discharges, without any material change in 
the composition of the urine, is the effect of a multitude of causes, 
some of an alimentary, others of a medicinal, and others again of 
a nervous nature, and, when but temporary, cannot be viewed in 
the light of disease. Every horseman knows how very often 
certain kinds of hay and corn cause horses to stale more than 
they ought to do, and that drinking a large quantity even of plain 
water will produce the same result. Medicines called urine balk, 
or diuretics, are given for the especial purpose of increasing the 
urine. But nervousness will likewise do it ; fright, or anxiety 
of almost any kind, will make a horse stale inordinately ; how 
frequently do we see hunters at the covert side, when the hounds 
are about "finding," staling or continually stretching themselves 
out to do so ; and I have seen horses having wounds commence 
staling the moment the twitch was put on, from the remembrance 
that it was the prelude to some painful cutting or dressing thay 
had undergone before." 

The horse has four depuratory surfaces, viz., the skin, lungs, 
digestive surface, and kidneys ; in health, and under favorable 
circumstances, there is an equilibrium of action in these parts, 
that is, a constant exercise of function, eliminating from the com- 
mon mass of the fluids, such as would be injurious if retained. 
But exposed as horses are to sudden atmospheric changes, the 
harmony between the above functions is disturbed so as to pro- 
duce essential changes in quality as well as quantity of the r)»»ui 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 119 

eliminated. Diminution in function, 01 suppressed cutaneous 
exhalation, excites instinctive movements in the tissues of kindred 
functions, and thus the discharge from the kidneys may be very 
large. 

This author has long since, and continues, to discountenance 
any unnecessary medication, believing that it is the duty of e^ery 
physician to know when to do nothing — "let well alone." In a 
case of this character, when it has only existed for a short time, 
and there be no perceptible alteration in the health of the animal, 
medicine is actually unnecessary. 

Strict attention, however, should be paid to stable management ; 
if the animal is located in a stable or barn, the temperature of 
which is much below that of the body,* let him be removed to a 
warmer place, and clothed with a blanket, if necessary ; the more 
fluid we draw from the surface, the less will there be left for the 
kidneys to eliminate; and this cannot be accomplished without 
heat. 

Attention must also be given to the quality of the food, and 
water; the former must be of the best kind, and the latter pure 
and fresh. Changes in the kind of food will often be of benefit 

INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER. — (Cystites.) 

Inflammation of the bladder is not in all cases to be considered 
as a primary disease, but arises in consequence of disease in the 
adjacent parts, or from calculi within its cavity. The urine may 

* " Every impression of cold admitted to the surface below the point of tem- 
perature that the subject has been accustomed to, instantly withdraws from the 
body a just proportion of its caloric; and as this is taken away, so in proportion 
there is an assault made on the regularity of the functional exercise : although 
it may not amount to disease, yet the system is more exposed to other hurtful 
agents. 

" The effect of incompatible degrees of cold is to condense and contract the 
dermoid tissue, to embarrass the exhalations on the surface. When incompati- 
ble degrees of cold are often reapplied, and followed suddenly by heat, the 
tissues acquire an increase of sensibility, by which they are more likely to be 
acted on by a subsequent exposure, and indeed to other exciting causes. Hence 
arises a state of predisposition, and cold in this instance becomes merely s 
remote cause of disease. But remote causes rarely produce active disease with 
out some exciting cause, and on a repetition of the exposure to « old, it maj 
Lteconie the exciting cause." — Gallup. 



L20 



THE MULiKiCN HUKiE OOCTOK. 




FEMALE ORGANS OF GENERATION. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 121 

also become acrimonious, from perverted function in the skin and 
lungs, and thus set up disease in the bladder. 

The symptoms of this disorder somewhat resemble those of 
nephritis : the patient will be seen to make frequent attempts to 
void urine, at the same time suffering from pain, and only suc- 
ceeding in passing a few drops at a time. The usual feverish 
eymptoms are always present while the parts are inflamed. 

Treatment. — There is very little chance of removing this die- 
order by the fleam, nor can it be removed by diuretics: we must 
endeavor to establish an equal circulation throughout the entire 
system, by warmth externally, and relaxing medicines given 
internally. The vapor bath, which has been so successfully intro- 
duced in human practice, and to a limited extent in veterinary, is 
an efficient relaxant of the tissues, and promotes both exhalation 
and absorption. The medicines to be given internally are, — 

1. Nauseants. A compound of equal parts of lobelia and 
bloodroot in drachm doses, given at intervals of a few hours, is 
well calculated to diminish the vibratory action of the heart and 
arteries, and thus relaxes the tissues so as to induce a free circu- 
lation of blood. 

2. Cathartics. Should the horse be plethoric, or labor under 
the least symptom of constipation, they are indicated, for they not 
only diminish the contents of the digestive canal, but the whole 
of the vascular tissues. 

3. Lubricants. These are always indicated in case of inflamed 
mu» ous surfaces ; a decoction of mashmallows is probably the best 
for diseases of the urinary organs. It follows, then, that if the 
function of the skin be restored by the above means, the bowels 
kept loose, the mucous surfaces lubricated, ai d the urine diluted, 
.he patient may soon recover. 



EXPLANATION OF CUT. — FEMALE ORGANS. 

1. Descending or posterior portion of the yeaa cava and its bifurcations. 

2. Descending or posterii >r portion of the gieat aorta — great artery — and 
its bifurcations. 

8. Supra reual capsu lea 
4. Kidneys. 

11 



122 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOH. 



6. Ureters, through which the urine passes to the bladder. 

6. Bladder severed from its ureters. 

7. Ovaries. 

8. Broad ligaments. 

9. Fallopian tubes. 

10. Cornua or horns. 

11. Frimbrioe of the fallopian tubes. 

12. Body of the uterus. 

13. Labia pudendi reflected over to show the vaginal membrane. 
14 Emulgent arteries. 



SUPPRESSION OF URINE. — (Strangury, Ischuria, Uyaurta ) 

When a horse attempts to urinate, and a few drops only piwg 
at a time, the case is termed strangury or dysuria. 

A total suppression of urine is termed ischuria. 

Strangury and retention are generally termed by stablemen 
" stoppage," or " stoppage of water ; " and it is no uncommon 
thing to see horses, while laboring under an attack of colic, una- 
ble to urinate ; in such cases, tbe stricture at the neck of the 
bladder, or at whatever part of the urinary channel it may exi>t. 
is the result of sympathetic action with the muscular or nervous 
tissues of the alimentary organs ; so that, if we relieve the 
patient of colic, and subdue the inflammatory symptoms of the 
one class of organs, the others are almost sure to resume theit 
function. Suppression of urine is so common an attendant with 
colic, that often what amounts to a mere retention only is consid- 
ered the disease, and the unfortunate creature is dosed with diu- 
retics, which may increase the urinary secretion to the risk of 
life, but have no power over the paralytic or rigid state of the 
bladder. 

Those who are in the habit of treating colic must have noticed 
that the moment a horse gets relief, — that is, when the accumu- 
lated gas evacuates the abdominal channel, the faeces come away, 
and the worst symptoms subside, — then the urine passes off 
freely — a sure sign of a quick recovery, and positive proof that 
the urinary organs were not primarily affected. 

Ihe causes which give rise to strangury are numerous ; disease 
of the kidneys or any part of their associate organs may, either 
iirectly or indirectly, produce it, paralysis, tonic spasm, pressure 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 12'6 

on the neck of the bladder from hardened faeces or from an accu- 
mulation of gas within the rectum, urinary calculi, and powerful 
diuretics, — all tend to produce suppression and retention ol 
urine. 

Let the reader understand that the manner in which the urine 
is voided is modified by many other diseases as well as colic. 
In some of them the secretion may be so scanty as to .ead to 
the supposition of strangury or retention, when in fact the blad 
der is not distended beyond its healthy capacity. Simple reten- 
tion of urine within the bladder may arise from some physical 
obstacle within the urethra ; this must not, however, be confounded 
with suppression, which implies that the secretion within the 
kidneys is suspended. We have seen horses in this state, and, 
on examining the parts, have found the orifice of the urethra 
occupied by a hard substance termed by horsemen a " bean," on 
the removal of which the urine has soon after passed in a free 
and full stream. This " bean " is formed from the secretion 
and filth that usually accumulates about a horse's penis. 

A diminution of the urinary discharge, approaching almost to 
retention, accompanies hydrothorax and other dropsical affections. 

Dr. Good considers retention of the urine a common symptom 
in all affections attended with coma, and also in diseases of the 
nervous system. 

The author wishes to have the reader bear in mind that 
retention of urine, so often confounded with suppression, is more 
generally the effect rather than a cause of disease. 

Any one, by making a simple examination per rectum, can 
easily ascertain if the case be one of suppression or of simple 
retention. Let the hand be introduced within the rectum ; and 
if the bladder be found empty, there is evidently suppression, 
whereas, if the bladder be large and full, occupying considerable 
space within the pelvis, it is a case of retention. 

Treatment. — Suppression of urine must be treated according 
to its indications ; the cause must be sought for, and, if possible, 
removed. Assafoetida, uva ursi, and cream of tartar are good 
to increase the secretion when the kidneys permit of augmenta- 
tion. Bjt on the whole, the safest plan will be to consult a vet- 
erinary surgeon. 



124 THE MODERN HORSE DOC TO K. 

Retention of urine may generally be relieved by introducing 
a gum elastic catheter through the urethra into the bladder, or 
by simply removing any obstruction that may exist within the 
former. 

Cases now and then occur in which, from some obstruction 
within the urethra, the catheter cannot be introduced ; we have 
never met with such a case, however, but have generally suc- 
ceeded — though for some time baffled — through the m-sans 
of patience and a well-oiled catheter, in accomplishing our 
object. 

In case of failing to reach the bladder with the flexible cathe- 
ter, there are two operations proposed, one or the other of which 
is now and then performed. One is called cutting through the 
perinaeum* into the urethra. The operation is performed by 
first introducing a catheter within the urethra, which must be 
pushed forward until it can be felt in the perinceum. A whale- 
bone staff, flattened and grooved at the end, is preferred by sur- 
geons to the former. The next step in the operation is to make 
an incision through the integuments and subcellular tissue into 
the urethra ; the bladder can then be reached and its contents 
evacuated through a straight or slightly curved hollow tube. 
The gum elastic catheter used on the human subject may answer 
in lieu of a better article. 

The other operation referred to is termed u tapping the blad- 
der." There are two methods of performing this ; one consists 
in puncturing the bladder through the walls of the rectum, 
and the other consists in penetrating the bladder through the 
muscles of the abdomen. Either method is attended with some 
danger, even when practised by men of great veterinary acquire- 
ments. The author considers puncturing the bladder after this 
fashion equivalent to a sentence of death. The former opera- 
tion, provided an operation be needed, is the most safe, and can 
be performed by any one possessing a knowledge of surgical 
anatomy. If the case is evidently one that can be medicinally 
relieved, give the following : — 



• PeriiuBum, the space just below the anus, denned in the mare as the span) 
between the anus and vagina. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOOTOR. 120 



Balsam copaiba, | ounce, 

Sweet spirits of nitre, .... 2 drachms, 
Flaxseed tea, 1 pint. 



Mares nxe not subject to this difficulty. 



DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE CAVITY AND ITS SURFACES. 

BOTS. 

The following cut is a representation of a cluster of bots found 
in the stomach of a borse after death. We were informed by the 
owner that the horse had for several months been subject to 
staggers, (vertigo.) During this period, his appetite failed, and 
the animal gradually lost flesh, and was at last unable to perform 
the least work without profuse perspiration. Finally, the horse 
lost so much flesh that he appeared like a walking skeleton, and 
the owner ordered him to be killed. Being in the vicinity at the 
time of death, we made a post mortem examination, and found 
the bots as represented. The internal surface of the stomach 
and alimentary canal was blanched, indicating indigestion. The 
lungs, spleen, liver, and kidneys were in a comparatively normal 
state. The external appearances were decidedly those of gen- 
eral emaciation, and, in our humble opinion, the horse, by a 
judicious system of medication, might have been saved. " The 
horse had been doctored for bots," without any regard to the 
general health, which should have been improved by the use of 
tonics, stimulants, and alteratives, after which vermifuges might 
have been ventured on. If the bots, as we suspect, presented in 
part only a mechanical obstruction to the passage of food into tho 
Btomach, his strength might have been preserved Ly a daily 
allowance of flour gruel and by nutritious injections. The bots, 
generally speaking, are not so troublesome to horses as people 
seem to suppose ; for it is very rare, in making post mortem ex- 
aminations, that we do not iind more or less in the stomach. We 
have heard some wonderful stories related of the bots burrowing 
11 * 



Vit 



THE MODERN HORSiJ DOCTOK. 



fig 1. 






Fig. 6. 



fig. 1, letter a. The eggs of the gadfly adhering to the hair of the horse. 

Fig. 2, letter b. The eggs as seen through a magnifying glass. 

Fig. 3. A bot in the progressive stage of development. 

Fig. 4. A full-grown bot, detached. 

Fig. 5. The female gadfly. 

Fig. 6. Cut of the horse's stomach 

" ** letter a. The gullet, or sesophagus, extending to the stomach; — 
b, b, the margin which separates the cuticular from the villous coats of th<? 
Etomach : — c, the entrance of the gullet into the stomach ; — d, d, the cuticu- 
lar portion of the stomach ; — e, the communication between the stomach and 
first intestines ; — f, f, f, the villous or mucous portion of the stomach, in 
vbich the f 'od is principally digested. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 127 

through the walls of the stomach. This we deny in toto, at leas! 
while the horse is alive. The little creature is too comfortably 
located to attempt its exit into a cavity where its destruction 
would be inevitable. If it be about to vacate its stronghold, 
instinct teaches it the most safe and expeditious route, which ia 
the alimentary canal. We do not deny that bots are found in the 
abdominal cavity, for the moment the horse dies all the varioua 
organs are subject to the laws of decomposition. Chemical action, 
which, during life, was regulated by the vital forces, now assumes 
the supremacy. Those powerful solvents termed the gastric 
fluids, which had previously dissolved nothing but food, now acl 
on the stomach itself, and hasten its decomposition ; and what had 
previously been good food for bots is now their bane, and they 
must themselves in turn be destroyed unless they escape from it. 
The peristaltic motion of the alimentary canal, which, during the 
existence of the horse, was so favorable to their exit by that 
channel, has ceased. T'aey are too well acquainted with the in- 
tricate, labyrinthian outlet, (their usual route,) to attempt its 
passage. No. The same energies of one eternal mind, 

" Pervading and instructing all that live," 

suggests the only means of escape. The stomach now offering 
hut little opposition to them, being partly decomposed, they burst 
their prison-house, and hence are found in the abdominal cavity. 
And here they may be said to have jumped " from the frying 
pan into the fire." We are frequently called upon to visit sick 
horses, said to have the " bots," when there is no more connection 
between them and the disease than there is between the horse and 
tho anvil on which his shoes are forged. It is all very well for 
us to say " a horse has the bots," and prescribe some medicine 
for their expulsion; but there is no practical advantage gained: 
neither is the horse benefited by such decision or treatment. For 
uiost of the remedies used as vermifuges would kill the horse, 
while the former would not be injured in the slightest degree. 
Mr. Bracey Clark says, " The slowness of the growth of bots, 
and the purity of their food, which is probably the chyle, must 
occasion what they receive in a given time to be proportionably 
small ; from winch, perhaps, arises the extreme difficulty of <1< - 



L28 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

stroying them by any medicine or poison thrown into the stomach. 
After opium had been administered to a horse laboring undei 
locked jaw for a week, in doses of one ounce every day, bots 
were found in the stomach perfectly alive. Tobacco has been 
employed in much larger quantities in the same complaint, and 
has also been continued without destroying them." Mr. White, 
V. S., says, " While making experiments on glanders, I found 
living bots in the stomach of a horse, though he had been takingj 
for many days, arsenic and corrosive sublimate." * Mr. Blaine 
eays, " that he has kept them alive for some days in olive oil, and 
in oil of turpentine, and that even the nitrous and sulphuric acids 
do not immediately destroy them." The history and habits of 
the bot are thus alluded to by Mr. Clark : u Bots are not, prop- 
erly speaking, worms, but the larvas of the gadfly, which deposits 
its eggs on the horse's coat in such a manner as that they shall 
be received into his stomach, and then become bots. When the 
female fly has become impregnated, and the eggs are sufficiently 
matured, she seeks among the horses a subject for her purpose, 
and approaching it on the wing, she holds her body nearly up- 
right in the air, and her tail, which is lengthened for the purpose, 
carried inwards and upwards. In this way she approaches the 
part where she designs to deposit the eggs, and suspending her- 
self for a few seconds before it, suddenly darts upon it, and leaves 
the egg adhering to the hair by means of a glutinous liquor se- 
creted with it. She then leaves the horse at a small distance, 
and prepares the second egg ; and poising herself before the part, 
deposits it in the same way ; the liquor dries, and the egg becomes 
jrmly glued to the hair. This is repeated by various flies, till 
four or five hundred eggs are sometimes deposited on one horse. 
They are usually deposited on the legs, side, and back of the 
shoulder — those parts most exposed to be licked by the animal: 
in licking, the eggs adhere to the tongue, and are carried into the 

* Very nice articles to experiment with, truly ! And yet we are sorry to say 
that experiments — for they cannot be called any thing eise — are daily mad a 
in this » ity with agents whose therapeutic powers are so diversified that Hk 
wisest of the faculty have never ventured to fix limits to their action. Thrv 
ue like the torch in the hands of an incendiary. The healthy parts must a'.f :0i 
rqually with the diseased. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 120 

horse's stomach in the act of swallowing. The bots attach thera< 
selves to the horse's stomach, and are sometimes, though less 
frequently, found in the first intestine. The number varies con- 
siderably ; sometimes there are not half a dozen, at others they 
exceed a hundred. They are fixed by the small end to the inner 
coat of the stomach, to which they attach themselves by means 
of two hooks." 

Cure. — It has been remarked that no effectual remedy hae 
ever been discovered for the cure of bots. Yet we venture to 
say that, in nine cases out of ten, if the animal be permitted to 
run a short time at grass, when the bot has attained its full 
growth, and is capable of exercising an independent life, it will 
detach itself from the stomach and pass off with the excre- 
ment. We have frequently brought away large quantities of 
bots during the administration of the following articles, and we 
do not hesitate to recommend them as safe and efficient. As a 
vermifuge, they are unrivalled ; at the same time they restore 
the tone of the digestive organs. 

Compound for the Expulsion of Bots. 

Powdered male fern, 2 ounces, 

" poplar bark 4 " 

White mustard seed, 2 " 

Common salt, 6 " 

Sulphur, 3 " 

Powdered aloes, 1 ounce. 

Mix ; divide into eighteen powders, and give one, night and 
morning, in the food. 

The animal should have a daily allowance of green food if the 
season permits. 

The author of Hippopathology writes, " It has been conjec- 
tured that bots might prove serviceable to the animal by aiding 
*he cuticular coat in the trituration of the food. That Nature 
should have created an animal, and designed it as an inhabitant 
of the stomach of another animal, without some good, but, I sus 
pect, unknown end, I think, in unison with others, highly im 
probable — irreconcilable with her other beautiful and more 
readily explained operations ; I am, however, for my own part, 
unable to draw up *he curtain which is here interposed between 
feet and design. 



130 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOK. 

u Supposing that bots in some way or other do good rathef 
than hurt, surely we cannot be solicitous about removing them ; 
for though we are unable to demonstrate their beneficial influ 
ence, we may, from all the circumstances arrived at, at least asserl 
that they in general are not injurious. Howbeit, we cannot per- 
suade the world so ; and, therefore, we must be prepared to m< et 
the complaints of persons who come to us, at certain season's, 
and say that their horses have worms, which must be got rid 
f — with a remedy for that purpose. Should any other malady 
exist at the time, no matter what, its origin will commonly he 
traced to the presence of these mischievous vermin." 

As far as our experience goes, we have no faith in medicine to 
expel bots, yet we have seen them voided with the excrement 
two or three times while the patients were under the influence of 
a dose of physic; the bots, however, were full grown. Dr. 
Clark thus reasons on the subject : " We can, it is true, force the 
medicine down a horse's tlrroat, but we cannot afterwards get it 
into the throat of the worm, who is placed in his own element, 
and can refuse the food that does not suit him." 

The nit or egg can easily be got rid of by greasing the horse's 
hair and then rubbing it with a coarse cloth, or by applying 
warm water, which loosens their hold on the hair. 

ON THE HORSE'S STOMACH. 

Comparing the size of the stomach with that of the horse, we 
find it less capacious than in some other herbivorous animals. 
The 03, for example, has a most complex form of stomach, con- 
taining four distinct cavities, through all of which the food has 
to pass ere it can be properly digested. In sheep, also, we find 
a similarly complex form of stomach; this admits the food as fast 
as the animal can crop it, from whence it is returned to the mouth 
to be masticated at leisure. 

The capacity of a horse's stomach varies in proportion to the 
size of the animal ; thus in a small horse it is about eight quarts 
arid in one of large proportions it sometimes exceeds thirty. It 
is occasionally dilated to an extraordinary size. A case cam* 1 
under our -jbservation a short time ago, of dilated stomach the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 131 

subject of which died from inflammation of the stomach una 
bowels. The owner labored under the impress ion that his horse 
had been poisoned, and, in order to satisfy his curiosity, employed 
us to make a post mortem examination. The mystery was soon 
solved. On exposing the stomach, it appeared about as large as 
two ordinary ones ; and after cutting into it, out tumbled about 
half a bushel of stutf resembling brown sawdust, but whicb 
turned out to be brown bread ! The animal had been regulaily 
fed for many months on brown bread, mouldy or not, just as it 
happened ; he was the constant subject of colic, in consequence 
of which the stomach had probably become gradually dilated by 
distention from gas, until acute disease terminated bis existence. 

Mr. Gamee, in his Descriptive Anatomy of the Abdominal 
Viscera of the Horse, quotes from a paper written by M. Colin. 
He found the stomach of a very small horse to contain only nine 
quarts, while in one of colossal dimensions the stomach held 
thirty-three quarts. 

The stomach, therefore, not only varies in size with the dimen- 
sions of the horse, but also as to whether it be full or empty, 
adapting itself generally to the amount of food taken. 

The horse's stomach is composed of four coats ; tlie first or 
external one is a part of the membrane which covers the whole 
of the abdominal contents, called peritoneum. This is termed 
the serous coat of the stomach. The second coat is called the 
muscular ; it is composed of three layers — inner, outer, and 
middle. These run in various directions, give strength, and 
admit of a complicated muscular motion which greatly facilitates 
digestion. 

The outer layer of muscular fibres is a continuation of the 
longitudinal ones of the oesophagus. 

The fibres of the middle layer embrace the stomach in circles , 
they admit of considerable contraction and relaxation, and are 
very j>owerful as they approach the lower orifice of that organ. 

The third or inner layer of fibres runs in an oblique direction. 
The third coat of the stomach corresponds to the cellular tissue 
under the skin of man ; it serves to connect the parts together 
and acts as a medium for the transmission of blood vessels ; and 
being soft and cushion-like, protects them from injury or pressure 



j82 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

The fourth or internal coat of the stomach corresponds to thd 
mucous membrane of other organs ; its upper or cardiac portion 
is protected by a thick cuticular layer, supposed to be insensible, 
like that found within the gizzard of the feathered tribe. This 
membrane is a prolongation of the external covering of the body 
into its interior ; its walls pour out or secrete a fluid which acts 
upon the food in such a manner as to dissolve it ; and through 
its walls is also absorbed a portion of the food which is destined 
for the support of the system. 

This cuticular covering of the stomach, to which we find the 
bots attached, terminates about midway. The other half, termed 
the villous, from its glistening aspect, extends to the pyloric ori 
fice, where it gathers into a fold, forming a kind of valve. This 
valve opens and shuts by the muscular relaxations and contrac- 
tions of the stomach and diaphragm, and permits the food, when 
reduced to a fluid form, to pass into the first intestine. 

The villous coat of the stomach, being thickly studded with 
blood vessels and nerves, is highly susceptible of irritation ; it is 
distinguished from the cuticular portion by its red, glistening 
appearance, and by being coated with a thick mucus. 

It is a fact of great practical importance to the farmer to know 
that the gastric fluid, secreted by the glands and follicles of the 
villous coat of the stomach, is the real solvent of the food, and 
{hat a certain quantity can only act on a limited amount of food ; 
therefore if a horse, from a depraved appetite, takes more food 
into his stomach than the gastric fluid can dissolve, it remains 
there undigested, a source of irritation and mischief. The 
amount of gastric juice secreted at any one time is not in pro- 
portion to the amount of food in the stomach, but to the wants 
of the system ; so that if a horse be fed without any regard t<? 
quantity, occupying twenty out of the twenty-four hours in cram- 
ming his digestive organs, and the evil goes on increasing with 
every addition to their cavities, disease sooner or later must man- 
ifest itself, or else the animal becomes a depraved feeder, and 
living, yet half dead, drags out a miserable existence. These 
depraved feeders — often made so by want of foresight on the 
part of their owners — are to be found under all circumstances 
uiid among every variety of breed ; which fact argues a general 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 13.1 

want of knowledge on the part of horsemen regarding the phys« 
iological action of the stomach. If a man ever becomes intem- 
perate, it is generally from habit, and the same may be said of 
the horse. Those who have experienced the cravings of a 
depraved appetite can sympathize with the four-footed creature, 
who, after devouring his provender, sets to work on the bedding, 
and finishes his meal from the boards which compose the stall 
and crib. A very extraordinary case of a d&praved feeder ia 
recorded by a French veterinary surgeon : " Neither manger, 
nor rack, nor the fragments of the bars escaped him ; he gnawed 
his halter, and licked the walls, and ate up all the earth he could 
get at. He was a confirmed crib-biter and roarer. For many 
years he had been subject to violent colics, which became latterly 
more and more frequent. In one of these paroxysms, at last, he 
died. There were found in his stomach, after death, four pounds 
and a half of earth and sand. He had, as was learned after- 
wards, escaped from his groom on the morning of the day he 
died, and galloped to the riding school, where he was found 
eating the earth and sand composing the floor. A brass wire, 
about the size of a knitting needle, and eight or nine inches long, 
was found sticking in the intestines, through whose walls it had 
penetrated, and had run into the lumbar muscles." 

Foreign bodies are sometimes found in the stomachs of horses 
after death, which do not seem to occasion much inconvenience 
during life ; thus many hundred bots have been found within 
that cavity without the subject being at all incommoded by them. 
The stomach terminates in that part known as its r yloric outlet, 
or inferior portion, from whence commences the duodenum, 
known as the second stomach. See cut of the stomach and 
intestines. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. — {Enteiitis.) 

Cause. — This disease arises under circumstances so wholly 
dissimilar, that different and even opposite causes are assigned 
to the same affection ; that is to say, different causes appear to 
produce the same results. Thus inflammation of the bowels may 
rupervene immediately after exposure in a rain storm, or troru 
12 



184 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

the application of cold water to the surface ; also from the pres- 
ence of some irritating substance within the alimentary canal 
Sudden change of diet, from dry to green feed, has often, appar- 
ently, produced this malady. In each case the apparent cause in 
somewhat different, and the disease may have had some common 
antecedent ; as, for example, a congestion of the blood vessels of 
the alimentary canal. Therefore it is very difficult to determine, 
in every case of disease, what are the direct causes ; yet we may 
safely conclude that in many such there previously existed in the 
system a peculiar predisposition, or, in other words, loss of 
vitality, ere the disease then present could have manifested itself. 

Mr. Percivall thus alludes to the causes : " The causes of 
enteritis are both numerous and various. We have seen that colic 
may give rise to it. Constipation may be viewed in the light 
both of cause and effect in its relation to it. Collected hardened 
faeces must naturally not only of themselves be irritative, but ob- 
structive and subversive of the functions of the bowels, and in 
either one or the other way may lay the foundation for an attack 
of inflammation. Certain kinds of indigestible food, calculous 
bodies, irritating matter of any sort, within the bowels, may 
cause an inflammation of them. Obstruction of any of their 
passages — whether it be from the lodgment and immovableness 
of the matters they contain, or from entanglement of the intes- 
tines, or intus-susception — must in the end occasion inflammation. 
Over-fatigue, and consequent excessive irritation in the bowels, 
will bring it on. * * * 

" Cold, from exposure, and skin wetted while hot, and so forth, 
ic< commonly entered high up on the list of the causes of enteritis, 
find, perhaps, with propriety. I must confess I have not met 
.vith so many cases from this as from other causes." 

Spnpio?ns. — There is some analogy between the symptoms of 
this disease and colic ; there is, however, one marked feature of 
the case which enables us to diagnose the disease with some degree 
of certainty, for when inflammation has fairly set in, there is little, 
if any, remission of pain ; whereas, in colic, the pains are of a spas- 
modic character, so that the animal at times is quite easy. The 
pulse, in inflammation of the bowels, is full, linn, and quick, in- 
•teasing in beat and volume as the disease increases in intensity 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 135 

The patient evinces pain when even the slightest pressure is made 
on the walls of the abdomen ; the belly is quite tense, and drawn 
up towards the hips. On moving the horse, he groans, indicative 
of pain, and looks anxiously towards the flanks. When lying 
down, he stretches himself out at full length, throws his head back, 
and paws with the fore feet ; sometimes he sweats profusely at 
the flanks and around the neck ; champs and grinds the teeth 
together ; the nostrils are dilated, and respirations hurried ; at 
times the urine trickles away from the urethra involuntarily, and 
the faeces are hard, and often covered with slime ; the eyes appear 
bright, glassy, and the pupils are dilated. In the last stages of 
this painful malady, a cold sweat stands on the body ; occasional 
tremors set in ; the lips hang pendulous ; the limbs, ears, and lips 
feel death-like ; and death soon puts an end to the scene. 

Treatment. — In relation to the treatment of this disease, we 
remark, that most practitioners recommend, more or less, the ab- 
straction of blood. Dr. White says, " Seven or eight quarts of 
blood may be taken with safety, and if no relief is given in the 
course of a few hours, five quarts more may be drawn away." 
Most writers, in fact, place the greatest reliance on the fleam for 
subduing enteritis. " The first and grand thing to be done is, to 
let blood from the jugular vein to the utmost extent the patient 
will bear ; the blood can should not be taken from the neck until 
evident prostration demands it. Should this come on prematurely, 
however, — should ^le horse stagger and appear faint from loss 
of blood, although but a few pints have flowed, — pin up the vein, 
and administer to him his drench and an injection ; and then, 
should his strength seem revived, have recourse once more to the 
fleam ; for blood he must lose, and in large quantities ; upon that, 
mainly, dopends his recovery." — Hippopathology, vol. ii. p. 251. 

Let the reader omit the bloodletting, and have recourse, if the 
nature of the case requires it, to a drench and injection, together 
with such other restorative means as we shall recommend, and 
there will be no need of abstracting blood. As a single illustration 
of the truth of this proposition, we merely refer to the fact, that, 
during nine years' practice in the city of Boston, the author of this 
work has never i i a single case of this, or any other form of dis- 
ease, had recourse to the practice of bloodletting. And the reader 



136 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

can infer from the fact that we get a comfortable living, that our 
practice is, to say the least, somewhat successful — for were il 
otheiwise, we should not enjoy the confidence and patronage of 
so many kind friends who have stood by us in our efforts to reform 
the abuses that have crept into the practice of veterinary medicine. 

Practitioners seem sometimes to forget what Dr. Dixon is so 
anxious to impress on their memories, viz. : " Nature is ever busy, 
by the silent operation of her own forces, in curing disease. Her 
medicines are air, warmth, food, water, and sleep. Their use is 
directed by instinct ; and that man is most worthy the name of 
physician who most reveres its unerring laws." Now, it is a 
well- known fact that the drawing of blood from a vein, though it 
lessens the volume of that fluid, does not mend the matter ; " for 
it does not act directly on the diseased part ; the action is only 
indirect;" therefore it is imperfect, and positively injurious — 
injurious, because "blood is the fuel that keeps the lamp of life 
burning: if the fuel be withdrawn, the vital spark is extin- 
guished." 

The fact of bloodletting having been practised from time im- 
memorial, for the cure of this or any other disease, is certainly 
not a clear proof of its utility, nor is it sufficient recommendation 
that it may be practised with safety ; for " no man, however wise, 
can tell how much Wood ought to be taken in a given case." 

The indication of cure in inflammation of the bowels is, to 
equalize the circulation, and remove irritatioWand obstructions to 
vital action. This we accomplish by the aid of natural and medi- 
cinal antispasmodics, such as we shall recommend. They are 
simple, but efficient. We do not depend on their strength or 
power to produce given results, such as follow the axhibition 01 
aloes, antimony, &c, (where we judge of the value of such agent 
simply by its effects, without reference to the injury done to deli- 
cate membranes.) The great secret is, to select such agents as 
shall produce a change, or, in other words, act in concert with the 
uncompromising laws of nature. Unfortunately, the medical 
world, as well as horsemen and farmers, have been accustomed 
lo judge of the power of a remedy by its effects, and not in pro- 
portion to its ultimate good. Thus, if a pound of salts be given 
to ft horse or cow, and they produce liquid stools, — operate well 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 13 1 

— they are styled a good medicine, although they shall leave the 
mucous surfaces of the alimentary canal in a weak state, and 
otherwise impair the digestive function ; yet this is a secondary 
consideration. For if the symptoms of the present malady, foi 
which the salts are given, shall disappear, nothing is thought of 
the after consequences. The animal may be constipated for 
several succeeding days, and finally refuse its food, and ultimately 
die ; but who suspects that the salts were the cause of such result ? 
If ever symptoms are altered by medicinal agents, they should be 
for the better. 

It will be seen, then, that bloodletting is resorted to in view 
of a prostrating or sedative effect, which can be more sanatively 
brought about under the more rational use of laxative medicines. 
Purgatives, however, cannot always be given with safety in inflam- 
mation of the bowels, because they might tend to augment the 
previous irritability of the alimentary canal. A dose of cathartic 
medicine may, however, be mixed with lubricants, — for example, 
slippery-elm, mucilage of gum arabic, or olive oil, — so as to defend 
the sensitive parts, and at the same time not deprive the medicine 
of its cathartic properties. 

After having ascertained the case to be one of enteritis, we 
administer the following: — 



Another : 



Another : 



Another : 



Linseed oil, 8 ounces, 

Lime water, 2 ounces 



Epsom salts, 8 ounces, 

Thin gruel, 1 quart. 



Pulverized aloes, 4 drachms. 

Mucilage of slippery elm, ... 1 pint. 



Common salt, 6 ounces, 

Warm water, 1 pint. 



Frequent injections are to be given until the bowels respond ; 
and if after a reasonable time they should not do so, one of the 
Iibove prescriptions, in about half the proportion, may be ventured 
on ; yet it is best not to be too hasty, for super-purgation induced 
by active cathartics would be equivalent to a sentence of death 
12* 



138 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

A handful of common salt to three quarts of tepid water forms a 
very good injection 

Whether the medicine be repeated or not, there is no safety nor 
ease for the patient until the irritating faeces have passed off. 
With a view then of diffusing the medicine, and diluting the hard- 
ened mass within, diluting drinks should be allowed ; if the patient 
has no inclination to drink, some warm water must be poured 
down ; at any rate, it will do no harm, for warm water is nauseat- 
ing, and of course relaxing, therefore is a valuable antispasmodic 

Some practitioners resort to counter irritants, as mustard em- 
brocations, tincture of cantharides, &c. The former is prepared 
by mixing it to a proper consistency with hot vinegar ; the latter, 
by steeping powdered cantharides in spirits of turpentine. Still 
we think that warmth and moisture, in the form of warm water 
and flannel bandages applied to the abdomen, and renewed often, 
will fulfil every necessary indication. 

We believe that counter irritation, in the form of external 
applications, does more good when applied to parts remote than 
when made in the vicinity of the morbid phenomena, as in the 
malady we are now treating of. 

Hence warm water must be faithfully applied ; yet in order to 
deri 'e any benefit from it, the process of evaporation must be 
somewhat checked, by winding dry sheets over the wet flannels : 
this insures, comparatively speaking, a more equal temperature 
of the parts, and tends to relax the capillary vessels. 

At times, especially when the patient is in great pain, fomen- 
tations of hops will be found of great benefit, for they are consid- 
ered anodyne — soothing ; and an occasional drench of hop tea 
may be given, instead of opium, which some practitioners recom* 
msnd. Hop tea may be thus made : — 

Hops, 2 ounces, 

Boiling water, 1 quart. 

Pour the boiling water upon the hops: when cool, strain and 
sweeten with honey. 

The diet should consist, during the inflammatory stage, of thin 
slippery-elm gruel. After the acute symptoms have subsided, 
liny teu, thickened with oatmeal, may be allowed. To relievo 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 139 

pain and tranquillize the nervous system, give a dose, as occasion 
may require, of tincture of Indian hemp (canabis satt'vus indicus*), 
one fluid drachm to a pint of warm water, two or three times a 
day. Diluted tincture of arnica, one ounce of tincture to a pint 
of water, has a good effect to lessen the pulse, and moderato 
inflammation. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH AND BOWELS.— 

( Gastro-enteritis . ") 

This is a complicated disease, attended with considerable danger, 
and requires some knowledge of pathology in order to detect it 
when occurring in an animal destitute of the power of speech. 
The disease, probably, first manifests itself in the stomach, and, as 
it progresses, involves the inner membrane of the intestines, and 
from thence shifts to various parts of the system. From the fol- 
lowing remarks by D' Arboval, who is considered the best authority 
on this subject, such an idea seems very plausible : " With other 
phenomena, preceding these, becomes united, in both forms of the 
disease, and in every case, more or less disorder of the functions 
of other organs. Divers phlegmonous complications make their 
appearance in other parts of the digestive apparatus and its de- 
pendencies — in the mucous membrane of the air passages, in the 
brain, in the urinary passages, in the organs of generation, and 
even, at times, in the skin. The sur-excitation of the mucous 
membrane of the mouth may be regarded as sympathetic, for it 
increases or diminishes in the same ratio as the gastro-enteritic 
disorder itself does. According as the attack is sudden or pro- 
tracted, this membrane is dry or clammy ; the tongue rarely 
preserves its natural complexion and humidity ; it has a more or 
Jobs bright-red aspect, particularly towards its point and border ; 
its papilla? and mucous follicles are more or less developed ; its 
surface, blanched, white, or yellowish, is covered with a blackish 
epidermoid crust ; the organ acquires volume and firmness, and 
exhibits sometimes along its under surface phlyctnena, or else 
ulcerations more or less deep and extensive. In opening horses 
that have died, points of inflammation have been detected upon 
the pharvnx and oesophagus ; sometimes even aphthae are found 



140 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

at the bottom of the mouth : I have seen them in many horses 
The large intestines are sometimes inflamed, and even on some 
occasions the margin of the anus may be observed to have grown 
red. The liver, with its peritoneal covering and excretory ducts 
participate in this same excitation. Gastro-enteritis rarely ex- 
ists in intensity for any time without reacting upon the mucous 
membrane of the respiratory passages, producing that sympa- 
thetic phlegmasia which is known by a sort of rale ; by a pain- 
ful state of the throat and upper part of the windpipe ; by embar- 
rassed respiration ; by dilatation of the nostrils ; by accelerated 
heavings of the flanks ; by a short, dry, hollow cough ; by shak- 
ings; and occasionally by a discharge from the nose of frothy 
mucous matter sometimes, but rarely, yellowish. Inflammation 
of the lungs may also be a complication ; then the expiration 
becomes more frequent, the respiration short and quick, the ex- 
pired air hot, and the pulse strong. Peritonitis and nephritis 
may likewise prove complications. In the first case, the horse 
experiences abdominal pains, and rubs his lips ; in the second, 
there is inflexibility of the spine about the lumbar region, and 
the animal evinces pain when pressed over the kidneys ; the 
urine is also redder and less in quantity. In fine, when gastro- 
enteritis is most intense, the consequent uneasiness and fatigue 
are often attributable to the brain ; the derangement of which is 
indicated by the extended neck, the heat and heaviness about 
the head, the drooping attitude, the resting-point that he makes 
of the manger, and the drowsiness he evinces. At the time, the 
sight and hearing become affected ; the conjunctiva looks red and 
injected, or it assumes a purplish hue, which, at the bottom, often 
turns yellowish, and exhibits phlyctcena ; the eyeball is inflamed, 
and the eye obscured ; the muscles of the face are irregularly con- 
tracted ; there is grinding of the teeth ; often symptoms of vertigo, 
and sometimes to that degree that some veterinarians — among 
others Dupuy — have regarded the gastro-enteritis of 1825 aa 
a form of vertiginous affection. This combination is especially 
fatal, and quickly so. and particularly in old horses, and such as 
are oppressed with work beyond their powers, or otherwise de- 
bilitated. Phlegmasia, sympathetically developed in the urinary 
pasnages and organs of generation, will account lor the changes 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 141 

in the urine before mentioned, for the agitation of the tail ; the 
frequent desire to stale ; the erections of the penis of the stone- 
horse ; the outstretching of the legs of the gelding ; the reddening 
of the mucous membrane of the vulva of females, and the sense 
cf heat in introducing the finger into the vagina. The skin will 
not prove exempt from becoming sur-excited, as will be evinced 
by its elevation of temperature, its state of dryness or sweat, 
the slight adherence of the hair, its dull and rough aspect , and, 
moreover, in some epidemics, by the buttony eruptions manifest 
upon it. At the last, swellings rise upon the hind legs or hocks ; 
oedema appears upon the belly, sheath, and breast ; the scrotum 
becomes covered with a dried matter in place of the natural unc- 
tuous secretion ; or else phlegmonous tumors form upon divers 
parts of the body; some we have observed upon the parotids 
and breast. 

"Autopsies. — Postmortem inspections have shown different 
and various diseases, according as gastro-enteritis has set in more 
or less suddenly, been slow or rapid in its course, and more or less 
complicated with the inflammation of some viscus or other part, 
besides the stomach and intestine ; for it is to be remarked, that 
constantly one organ is especially attacked, and exhibits dis- 
ease violent in proportion as other organs are slightly affected. 
The mucous membrane lining the stomach is more or less red- 
dened, particularly the portion within the right sac, the entire 
6urface of which sometimes appears so ; besides which it is in- 
jected, and in some places ecchymosed. The red color — proof 
incontestable of the existence of inflammation during life — ap- 
pears under a great variety of shades ; the deep-brown tint 
Bbows gangrene, a change also indicated by the friability of the 
part and its speedy progress to putrefaction after death. Patches 
of redness are also visible in different places upon the membrane, 
(the mucous follicles being larger than common ;) sometimes 
superficial ulcerations, petechias even, and gangrenous eschars, 
which may be nothing more than ecchymosis. Similar appear 
ances are found in the small intestines, whose mucous membrane 
in many parts is reddened, injected, softened, and studded with 
assemblages of pointed eruptions ; a gray, thick, glairy mucus, 
and some petechial spots, are also visible. In some cases, the 



i42 rnn modern horse doctor. 

matters contained in the small intestines are solid, and look ao 
though they had been dried, though this is an appearance more 
common in the large guts, unless there happened to have existed 
diarrhoea before death ; in the caecum we almost always find this, 
and for some way also, though in a less marked degree, within 
the cells of the colon. More or less inflammation is observable 
in the mucous membrane of the fauces ; the sides of the tongue 
are covered with ulcerations resembling aphthae ; and the surface 
of the pharynx, which is more or less deeply reddened, some- 
times presents a cribriform or worm-eaten appearance. Its folli- 
cles also often acquire such considerable development that they 
might be mistaken for buds, with their orifices wide open. Some 
of these alterations are perceptible at times within the oesopha- 
gus. When the disease has proved complicated, we also find, 
after death, alterations in those organs which have shown a dis- 
position to partake of it. The liver is often tumid, its veins are 
gorged with blood, and its substance is pale and without firm- 
ness ; in some subjects ecchymosis and recent adhesions are ap- 
parent upon its exterior, evidently the consequences of inflam- 
mation. The lungs at one time are simply engorged ; at another, 
within the anterior appendices and extremities of the lobes they 
exhibit the red induration ; or they are hepatized in places, or 
inflamed around their periphery, and contain spumous blood. 
In certain subjects, the pleura is reddened and thickened, and 
covered with layers of albumen, a part of which forms false 
membranes and points of adhesion to the walls of the thorax. 
Effusion is rare ; notwithstanding it has been observed by me in 
two instances, and in one of them so considerable was the quan- 
tity that the case nowise differed from hydrothorax. Accord- 
ing to M. Girard, whose observations we are now borrowing, 
the heart is the organ most and oftenest affected. The pericar- 
dium, commonly infiltrated in substance with yellow fluid, containa 
more or less serosity, sometimes bloody, and atfbrds ev'dent marks 
»>f acute inflammation. In many subjects the heart is twice its 
natural volume, its substance pale and discolored, and void of 
tenacity, rends with facility ; its exterior, in a state of inflamma- 
tion, exhibits black spots, the effects either of ecchymosis or gan- 
grene, (most probably of the former.) Its cavities always contain 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 143 

black, thick blood, semi-coagulated ; and often yellow, consisting 
of fibrinous, albuminous concretions. These productions, large or 
small, exist sometimes, says M. Girard, in the right cavities, some- 
times in the left, and sometimes in both right and left at once ; 
they always occupy the auriculo-ventricular opening, and more or 
less completely fill it. Such appearances would have escaped 
observation both in men and animals, had not M. Girard pointed 
them out in horses in the gastro-enteritis called the epidemic of 
1825. Do they form during or aftei life? The former director 
of the Alfort school entertained the first hypothesis, and thought 
that the concretions in question might prove the cause of death, 
by producing that suffocation which he had observed in horses 
which died suddenly and in a manner asphyxiated. 

" Supposing it were so, adds M. Girard, we should obtain an 
easy explanation to the obstruction of the lungs, the engorgement 
of the liver, the phlogosis of the air tubes, and the presence of 
frothy mucus within them. According to the same authority, 
the internal surfaces of the cavities of the heart present vestiges 
of sub-acute inflammation ; the redness is most remarkable in 
the tricuspid and mitral valves, and extends into the arterial 
and venous trunks ; though it is not equally perceptible in all 
the cavities of the heart or within the venous and arterial trunks. 

" In general, little alteration is visible in the brain, though in 
some subjects the exterior presents marks of inflammation. M. 
Girard once observed inflammation in the right lobe ; and M. 
Rainaud speaks of the injection of the veins of the brain, of 
effusion into the lateral ventricles, of slight yellowish infiltration, 
ixnd of concretions of the same hue in the choroid plexus. When 
the urinary apparatus participates in the inflammation, the kid- 
neys are redder than ordinary, and their tissue is extremely 
lacerable ; the bladder exhibiting red spots, and the urine being 
e&ffion or brick-dust colored. In some instances, the whole of 
the sub-cutaneous, cellular, and muscular tissue is infiltrated, and 
its areola? are filled with yellowish fluid — an appearance most 
remarkable in the breast, scrotum, and sheath, when such parts 
have proved oedematous during life. 

" Such were the principal signs of disease observed in the 
horses that fell victims to the gastro-enteritis of 1825 The 



144 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

principal and most constant lesion, however, — that which cou- 
Btituted the disease, and from which all the others were derived, — 
was inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and 
intestines." — Hippopathology, p. 232. 

Symptoms of Gastro-Eateritis. — The symptoms vary as the 
disease progresses and spreads over the digestive surface, so that 
it is almost impossible to give, with certainty, any symptoms that 
can correspond to a given case of this character ; for the disease 
may be termed, and sometimes is, one of progression, beginning 
in the stomach, invading tissue after tissue, until the disease 
becomes general ; it is then said to be complicated, and as a mat- 
ter of course, we meet with a variety of symptoms as the morbid 
phsnomena develop themselves. Notwithstanding this, there are 
a few symptoms, which, if recognized, tend to mark the form and 
character of the disease. 

Supposing the disease first to originate in the stomach, as it no 
doubt does, we shall be assisted somewhat in our diagnosis if we 
are acquainted with the prominent symptoms, as they occur in the 
human subject, selecting those, however, wbich apply to animals, 
either directly or indirectly. The symptoms, as they occur in our 
species, are, a violent pain in the stomach, distention, and flatu- 
lency ; thirst, restlessness, anxiety ; frequent, hard, and contracted 
pulse ; great loss of strength ; interrupted respiration ; coldness 
of the extremities ; clammy sweats, terminating in suppuration, 
ulceration, or gangrene. On dissection, we find a highly vascu- 
lar and inflamed gastric surface, having a layer of coagulable 
lymph lining its surface, and sometimes ulceration takes place, 
und the walls of the stomach are thickened. 

The symptoms of enteritis (inflammation of the bowels) in the 
human subject are — it is ushered in with sharp pain, extending 
over the whole of the abdomen ; obstinate constipation and vom- 
iting, (the latter does not apply to the horse ;) thirst, great anxiety, 
restlessness, quick and hard pulse. After a short time, the pain 
becomes more severe, the bowels seem drawn together by a kind 
of spasm, which extends to the bladder, so that the urine is voided 
with great difficulty. 

Dissections show inflammation of the internal coat of the in- 



THE MODERN HORSE DOO'iOK. ] 15 

testines, ulcerations and moitification. The intestines are ob- 
structed, twisted, and one part frequently dips into another, so as 
to entirely block up the channel. Combine the symptoms of 
these two diseases, and we have a case of gastro-enteritis. We 
must remember that in the horse the inflammation extends more 
rapidly, and diffuses itself to other tissues, and that, ere ulceration 
or gangrene have set in, the animal frequently dies. 

The symptoms of gastro-enteritis, in the horse, have thus been 
described by D'Arboval : " When the disorder sets in rapidly, it 
is indicated by dejection, dulness, slight anxiety, head depend- 
ent and heavy, and hanging in the manger; infiltration of the 
eyelids, which are half closed ; reddening with yellowness of the 
conjunctiva; tearful eyes; deep and jerking respiration. Soon 
the mucous membranes acquire the same hue as the conjunctiva, 
and are at times infiltrated and tumefied. To these symptoms 
are joined loss of appetite, often sudden ; a dry, clammy, foul 
tongue, red at the upper part and around the borders ; more or 
less thirst ; stiffness of the spine and hind legs, with difficulty in 
moving, and swelling of the latter ; staggering gait ; weariness ; 
alternate heats and chills about the ears; pulse at the com- 
mencement full, strong, and quick ; afterwards small, hard, and 
thready. The belly becomes tense, but has rather a tucked-up 
than inflated appearance. On some occasions the attack is so 
sudden that the horse, saddled or harnessed, experiences all at 
once a remarkable heaving of the flanks, dilatation of the nostrils, 
dependence or incurvation of the head, griping pains, partial tre- 
mors of the muscles of the shoulder and stifle, staggering, some- 
times squatting upon the haunches, or falling down and reposing 
the head upon the ground. Most horses cannot lie down ; many 
maintain the erect position evidently with pain ; others fear to 
move lest they fall. The vital powers seem to concentrate them- 
selves inwardly ; the skin becomes insensible ; the coat loses its 
glass, and turns dry and penfeathered ; prostration supervenes ; 
the discharges are rare and scanty ; the dungballs small, dry, 
blackish, and coated ; the urine, equally scanty, is at one time 
reddened, at another limpid and crude, and not expelled without 
effort. Mosl horses, during the height of their complaint, will, 
13 



146 THE MODERN HORsE DOCTOR. 

at intervals, grind their teeth ; all experience considerable heal 
under the foretop, across the whole parietal region. The horses 
predisposed to sudden attacks of gastro-enteritis are the young, 
vigoious, sanguineous, and irritable ; in particular those over veti 
fed in proportion to their work." — Hippopathology, p. 225. 

In this section of the United States, where so little attention 
has been paid to hygienic rules as they apply to horseflesh, we 
find a large proportion of equine diseases originating in the 
stomach ; ordinarily, however, they manifest themselves moie oil 
the nervous and cerebral functions than on the gastric, piinci 
pally through their sympathetic relations: there are cases, how. 
ever, from the presence of a large amount of food in the stomach 
which that organ is unable to digest, where it may, by irritating 
the inner walls of the stomach, produce acute disease of that organ. 
So also as regards poisonous agents ; they act chemically, or as 
mechanical irritants, developing primary disease in the gastric 
cavity, which gradually extends to other organs. 

Treatment of Gastro-Enteritis. — With a view of lessening the 
irritation of the digestive surfaces, we resort to mucilaginous 
drinks. Various articles are in use, such as gum arabic, slippery- 
elm, flaxseed, flour porridge, &c. The treatment must, how- 
ever, have reference to the exciting causes. If a horse shows 
symptoms of this malady, and is supposed to have an engorged 
stomach from food, a stimulating drench must be given, to arouse 
the digestive function, and thus get rid of the burden. It is gen- 
erally customary among our race to take stimulants after a hearty 
meal, to assist digestion ; and we generally find they have the 
desired effect. So, also, if we wish to empty a full stomach 
and arouse the digestive function of a horse, we must do the same 
thing, or we cannot remove the exciting cause. Purges are of 
no sort of use for the purpose of liberating the contents of an 
overloaded stomach ; and if inflammation has fairly set in, they 
are injurious. On the other hand, the stimulants here recom- 
mended will do no harm while the stomach is gorged or other- 
wise, provided they be mixed with lubricants, or not, as the case 
requires. Physicians do not hesitate a moment about applying 
stimulants, such as tincture of myrrh, &C, to wounds and abraded 
surfaces. The popular empyrical compound so much in use at 



Tilfi MODERN HOUSE DOCTOR. 14i 

the present day, called pain killer, is a concentrated stimulant, 
and we are told that it does good. 

Supposing that the stomach is in a torpid condition, we give 
the following drench : — 

Tincture of ginger, 2 ounces, 

Fine salt, 1 ounce, 

Essence of peppermint, .... 1 ounce. 

At the end of four hours we commence to lubricate the diges- 
tive surfaces, by mucilaginous drenches. To guard against 
constipation, we resort to cream of tartar and sulphur, and if the 
pain is still severe, (which may be known by the patient's actions,) 
a dose of linseed oil and lime water should be given. Occasional 
clysters are advisable so long as the bowels are torpid and the 
excrement scanty. Counter irritants are indicated when the 
extremities are cold and the surface inactive ; hand rubbing and 
wisping with straw in a downward direction tend to impart 
heat and a free current of blood to the surface, and of course 
relieve deep-seated inflammation. 

If the disease is occasioned by the use of large doses of anti- 
mony or other mineral poisons, the patient should be drenched 
with weak soap suds, or lime water and linseed oil, equal parts, 
and afterwards be fed on starch gruel and mucilage of marsh- 
mallows. We cannot be expected to write all the necessary 
directions that may be needed in a case of this character ; there- 
fore, if the services of a veterinary surgeon can be obtained, the 
owner had better employ him. 

TWISTING OF THE INTESTINES: — (Volvulus, Intussusception.) 

Definition. — (Intus-susceptio, and intro-susceptio ; from intm, 
within, and suscipio, to receive.) A disease of the intestinal tube, 
and mo 3t frequently of the small intestines ; it consists in a por* 
tion of gut passing for some length within another portion. — 
Hooper. 

Volvulus, from volvo, to roll up. The iliac passion, or inflam 
mation in the bowels, called twisting of the guts. — Ibid. 

This trouble is quite common among horses, yet at post mortem 
examinations it is not always evident; this may arise in conse 



i48 THE MODERN KORSE DOCTOK. 

quence of the intestine having slipped into place, either from 
handling the bowels, or from the relaxation that takes place at 
death. A circumscribed, strangulated, and discolored spot may 
perhaps be found, and in the absence of any constriction o( the 
intestinal canal at this spot, we may suspect that intus-susception 
has existed. 

Intus-susception may arise from various causes ; the chief of 
which is a deranged state of the digestive organs. It is well 
k.LOwn that the difficulty often follows both flatulent and spas- 
modic colic, and these maladies are the sequel of the former. It 
is also well known that in colic a large amount of carbonic acid 
and other gases are generated within the intestinal canal, by which 
their volume is inordinately increased, and their position so 
changed that we need not be surprised to find them at times 
twisted into all manner of shapes. In cases of intus-susception, 
we have met with strictures in various parts of the small intes- 
tines ; these contractions or constrictions of the canal may possi- 
bly be the cause of intus-susception — if so, then our treatment 
should be nauseating and relaxing. In the human subject, intus- 
susception is generally relieved by vomiting — inverted peristaltic 
action ; but as that is rather an uncommon occurrence in the 
horse, we must not expect relief in this way. 

The symptoms of volvulus do not differ materially from those 
attending colic, with this exception, that the animal is more tran- 
quil when lying down, and does not paw with his fore feet when 
up, as he invariably does when suffering from colic. The pain 
also seems more persistent, as evinced by the distressing look and 
uneasiness of the head. The disease is apt to terminate in rup- 
ture of the intestine, diaphragm, or stomach — fcr which there ia 
W) remedy. 

Treatment. — Administer the following drench : — 

Tincture of ginger, 2 ounces, 

Oil of peppermint, 20 drops, 

Chloric ether, 2 drachms, 

Thin gruel, £ pint. 

Rub the belly, and give clysters of salt and water. 

We prefer to give the above medicine prior to the administra- 
tion of nauseants, especially in the early stage of an attack, (when 
vhe symptoms are more of a colicky nature,) because we havt 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR- 1 4H 

Been it, accomplish wonders, in relieving the animal of flatus, and 
freeing him from pain in the course of a very few minutes. The 
reader may perhaps observe, that when relief is thus quickly 
obtained, the case is one of colic. Our answer is, that volvulus 
comes from colic, and if that is cured, there is an end of the mat- 
ter. We have relieved several horses from this terrible affection 
by the system of packing, after the fashion of homoeopathy. 

Bloodletting is almost universally practised for this complaint 
but we prefer to nauseate instead of deplete. It is one of the 
most painful affections to which the horse is subject, and in the 
course of a very short time the pain has so perverted the functions 
that blood cannot be spared, as will be seen on perusing the fol- 
lowing article : — 

" Changes which the Blood undergoes during Pain. 

"M. Clement, in his researches on the alterations which pain, 
B long time endured, may occasion in the composition of the blood, 
intended to serve in aid of explaining respiration and nutrition, 
remarks, it appears that during violent pain — 

" 1. The water and coloring matter of the blood augment, or 
Beem to augment^ in quantity. 

" 2. The albumen and fibrine diminish. 

" 3. That while the fibrine and albumen in unison are diminish- 
ing -j^njjj on an average on the one part, the coloring matters of 
the blood are increasing about ujxso on tne other side. 

" 4. That these facts, studied in relation to the influence of pain 
on the organism, show that severe pain, by the sure excitation of 
the organic functions it produces, must be expected to speed- 
ily and deeply wear the economy, so that this last, in order ti 
sustain itself, has need to react strongly on the elements of .he 
blood. 

" 5. That the blood in this case loses part of its fibrine ana 
part of its albumen, without losing any of its globules. 

" 6. That in relation to the study of nutrition and respiration, 
it would seem to result from these facts, and especially when W6 
come to compare the chemical composition of the blood with that 
of the soft tissues, in particular the muscles: a, the fibrine, is to 
serve exclusively for nutrition ; b, and that albumen, which would 
18* 



150 THE MODERN DOUSE DOCTOR. 

appear to escape this physiological act, is d ^stined For the purpos' 
of respiration and to produce fibrine. 

" 7. That this supposition seems explicable on the double fact 
a, that the albumen, which exists ir. great quantities in the blood, 
is, on the contrary, but little abundant in the muscles and other 
tissues ; b, that the fibrine, which predominates in the muscles, 
for example, figures in a very small proportion ir the composiiion 
of the blood. 

" 8. That, according to the same supposition, the albumen of 
the blood will be in part free, in part combined ; wad *hat the 
portion in combination would be with the fibrine in order to hold 
it in solution, and thus favor its circulation through the vessels, 
and in its ultimate analysis, its assimilation. 

" 9. That in every respiration a part only of the albumen is 
combusted and converted into fibrine. 

" 10. That this dissolution of fibrine becomes necessary ia 
order to oppose the coagulation of a principle whose disposition 
is to become solid, and, as we all know, very firmly so. 

" 11. That, moreover, this coagulation is hindered by the inter- 
position and suspension in the blood and motion of the colore^ 
corpuscles. 

" 12. That the use of these corpuscles is to divide the albume* 
and fibrine, to oppose the coagulation of the latter, and moreover 
to imbibe the oxygen of the air which is going to occasion a fres* 
combustion in the woof of the living tissues, and so favor th« 
normal accomplishment of the function of assimilation and nu- 
trition." — Translated from the French, by Mr. Percivall. 

COLIC* 

In nine cases out of ten, colic is the result of impaired digestive 
organs ; the food runs into fermentation, and evolves carboni: 
acid gas. In view of prevention, then, it becomes a matter of 
Importance to know what are the causes of indigestion; and the 

• Salcratus is a favorite remedy among horsemen for the cure of colic and 
Indigestion. Being an antacid, it is supposed to combine with the free acid 
existing in the digestive cavity, and thus neutralize it; the benefit which 
might be derived from this alkali is prevented, oy mixing it, as many do, with 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 151 

most frequent may be said to be immoderate feeding — eating 01 
drinking whatever disagrees with the stomach, either in regard to 
quantity or quality. Every tyro in medicine knows that a 
drink of hard water will often produce colic, both in man and 
beast, provided the digestive function shall be impaired. Mr. 
White says, " When the Royal Dragoons were quartered at 
Croydon, scarcely a day passed without one or more horses being 
attacked with flatulent colic, and, on examining the water made 
use of in the barracks, it was found remarkably hard." Our own 
experience confirms this fact, for before the introduction of 
Cochituate water into Boston, very many of our employers' horses 
were frequently attacked with both flatulent and spasmodic colic, 
which are now entirely free from it, since they use pure, soft 
water. 

The treatment should consist, first, in the use of diffusible 
6timulants, (not alcoholic,) of a carminative nature, such, for 
example, as grains of paradise, caraway seed, ginger, &c. ; and 
these should be given in a liquid form. Stimulants of a sanative 
nature are always indicated in the treatment of colic ; for if the 
stomach be distended with a load of semi-putrid food, how can we 
get rid of it except by the ordinary way, when the parts are in a 
healthy state? Men have strangely erred in recommending 
medicine — castor oil, salts, aloes, opium, turpentine, &c. — for the 
cure of colic, and, perhaps, we ourselves are not free from blame 
in this matter. Experience, and nothing else, has changed our 

milk, and sometimes with molasses ; both of which contain an acid, and must 

therefore partly neutralize the alkali before it enters the horse's stomach, 

where it often does more harm than good. The action of an alkali, when usej 

in this view, is only palliative, as it does not correct that diseased state of the 

digestive organs which favors the formation of acid or gas. The constant use 

of saleratus on horses tends to produce a disease of the alimentary canal, and 

thus lay the foundation for future attacks of colic. Alkalis shovld always be 

jombincd with carminatives, and sometimes tonics; and in no case should l^rgc 

loses be given. If the animal labors under pyloric obstruction, and the gas i* 

supposed to exist in the stomach, the following is the best preparation ■ — 

Carbonate ammonia, 1 drachm, 

Tincture of ginger, 1 ounce, 

Water, 1 pint. 

Mix, and drench the horse. 

If the acid or gas exis* in the bowels, substitute irre water for %romom&, aiuf 
i.ld half an ounce of tincture of gentian. 



152 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

fiews, and we give them for the benefit of man and horse 
" Experience is the only true guide." 

We select the following case as an example of treatment. The 
subject was a gray mare, seven years old, remarkable for her 
capacious belly. The attack was ushered in with the usual ap- 
pearance of uneasiness. We found her lying down, her legs 
gathered up, groaning, and looking anxiously round at the flanks. 
She would occasionally roll on her back, but the abdomen was so 
enormously distended with flatus, that it was with much difficulty 
ehe could get on her side again. We commenced the treatment 
with the following : — 

Powdered grains of paradise, 1 tea-spoonful. 

" caraway, ^ tea-spoonful. 

Oil of peppermint, 20 drops. 

Powdered slippery elm, 1 table-spoonful. 

Hot water, 1 pint. 

These were mixed together and given from a bottle. An injec- 
tion of common soap suds was then thrown into the rectum. In 
a few minutes the mare voided a mass of excrement, accompanied 
with slime and wind. She now appeared to grow easier, and in 
a few minutes was free from pain. Very simple treatment, the 
reader may observe, yet we will venture to say very efficient. 
We have frequently cured alarming cases with a little pepper- 
mint tea alone ; whereas, had the subject been treated after the 
fashion of some, the malady might, as it often does, have run on 
to a fatal issue. Those who prefer to use powerful remedies, as 
they are called, may ask, What good can peppermint tea accom- 
plish ? We answer, nature delights in simples; the mother finds 
it good for infants, and men almost invariably take peppermint, in 
some form, for the relief of colic ; and we have tried it, and found 
it good for horses. 

Inflammation of the bowels is very apt to set in during an 
attack of colic from the use of spirits or oil of turpentine, and 
other popular nostrums ; and it is much to be deplored that so 
noble an animal as the horse should be made to undergo such 
torture as he is known to do from the administration of turpen- 
tine. If any of our readers wish to satisfy themselves of the 
irritating properties of turpentine, let them just apply a small 
quantity to the skin of a horse, and they will perceive thai it id 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 153 

an irritant of no ordinary character ; the restlessness of the ani 
mal, his efforts to " get at the part," and the tumefaction that fol- 
lows, all denote the pain he suffers. 

An article of this kind, therefore, to say the least, is not a 
suitable one to introduce within the digestive canal, the surface 
of which may be considered equally susceptible to irritation. 
Neither are we compelled to resort to its use in view of curing 
colic, when the arcana of nature teem with an untold number of 
valuable carminatives and antispasmodics. A few drops of the 
oil of peppermint, or anise-seed, dissolved in a small quantity of 
alcohol, and given as a drench in thin gruel or warm water, are 
worth all the spirits of turpentine in the world for the cure of colic. 

The author is in possession of uncontrovertible facts, which 
show that turpentine administered without the precaution adopted 
by those who know its properties, and are still in favor of its use, 
— which is, to mix it with mucilage, — that avast number of 
valuable horses have been suddenly destroyed, and many others 
have lingered for several days before death, from an aggravated 
form of intestinal inflammation. 

Lest the reader should suppose us singular in our opinion 
regarding the effects of oil of turpentine, we will just quote one 
sase to the point. A veterinary surgeon says (p. 432, vol. xxv. 
Veterinarian) that he was called to attend a horse with apparently 
colicky pains. " The village smith was summoned, who prescribed 
a large dose of oil of turpentine, which was repeated ; but the 
symptoms increasing rather than abating, I was sent for. But, 
alas ! ere my arrival the medicine had done its work, death having 
relieved the animal from further maltreatment. I at once pro- 
ceeded to make a post mortem examination, and never saw more 
widely diffused inflammation. The whole of the intestine^ were 
highly inflamed, and there was, besides, sufficient evidence of the 
kidneys not having escaped intact, as also some of the other vis- 
cera. No cause being assigned, it is impossible to say whether 
the inflammation existed previously to, or was the result of, th« 
administration of the turpentine. Even if the former were thy 
ease, it is certain the latter exacerbated the disease." 



1 54 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE PERITONEUM.-- Peritonitis.) 

The peritoneum is a serous membrane, within the abdominal 
savity, connected throughout the whole extent of the walls of the 
abdomen by cellular tissue. It forms a covering also to th? 
whole of the viscera within that cavity. It is occasionally the 
seat of peritonitis, which does not differ from inflammation of the 
bowels ; it is the same disease located on the outer instead of 
the inner membrane, and consists of a loss of equilibrium in the 
circulating fluids, or a determination of blood to the parts. It is 
supposed to arise from chilling the surface, or from mechanical 
injuries. The treatment is the same as for inflammation of the 
bowels ; which see. 

DIAKRHffiA. 

This is not a very common disease among horses ; there is, 
however, a kind of feculent diarrhoea that often happens among 
gross feeders; yet, so long as it does not continue any length of 
time, nor prostrate the patient, it is rather salutary than other- 
wise ; it is the only means by which the system can be relieved 
of the superabundant carbon which the depraved feeder often 
takes into his stomach at a time when there is no need of it ; 
so that we should not be over-hasty in checking a diarrhoea of 
this description. A case which may serve as a warning to some 
occurred in this city some time since. The subject, a valuable 
dapple-colored stud, had an attack of feculent diarrhcea ; it had 
been on him about twelve hours, when the owner called on us, 
and stated that he wished to have the diarrhoea stopped, as he 
must side the animal on the day following in a military proces- 
sion. We represented to him the danger that might ariue from 
suddenly arresting active peristaltic action, but our advice was 
not heeded. " Stop the diarrhcea is all I ask of you ; I risk the 
sonsequences," said the owner; and accordingly we prescribed 
the following medicine : — 

I owdercd white oak b;uk, . . 1 ounce, 

" bayberry, ... 1 ounce, 

' charcoal, 4 ounces. 

" gum kino 4 ounce. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 158 

lie ate the whole of this, mixed with dry meal, in the shor* 
space of twelve hours. The diarrhoea stopped ; the horse per- 
formed the duty required of him to the satisfaction of his -jwner 
and, in spite of the most active treatment, died on the seventh 
day, of dropsy. We should use no etforts, therefore, to check a 
diarrhoea in its early stage, when occurring in a plethoric sub 
ject or depraved feeder. The occurrence should only serve as t 
warning to us to dip a light hand into the meal chest, and diet thl 
animal ; perhaps a dose of sulphur, charcoal, and sassafras, ir 
equal parts, to the amount of an ounce or more, may serve to 
arrest morbid action, and prevent fermentation. The form of 
diarrhoea for which our services have generally been required 
is the hepatic, in which there is an abundant watery discharge, 
mixed with fecal matter and slime, of a dark-yellow tinge : in 
such cases the disease runs into a chronic type ; there is a 
marked coldness about the body and limbs ; the appetite is im- 
paired ; the animal loses flesh very rapidly, and the discharges 
are frequent. The causes of the various forms of diarrhoea 
are, increased irritability of the intestines, which produce too 
rapid propulsion of the secretions ; from a large collection of 
excrementitious matter in the digestive cavity ; from perverted 
action of the liver; and from congestion of the mucous mem- 
brane of the intestines. These causes are often preceded by 
others which act directly or indirectly on the external surface ; 
hence, if a horse, when in a state of perspiration, be suffered 
to cool off" too suddenly, or if his body and limbs be sluiced with 
cold water when the exhalant vessels are very active, this dis- 
ease may follow. Some horses, when permitted to eat large 
quantities of new oats and hay, are apt to scour : this form, how- 
ever, requires no medical treatment, for we have only to change 
the diet, and there is an end of the matter Other animals of a 
weak, washy constitution are frequently attacked with diarrhoea, 
whenever they are put to hard work ; all that is needed in such 
c&-ies is tc change their work for something lighter, and give 
them an occasional dose of ginger and charcoal, equal parts. 

Treatment. — As the disease is so apt to occur after the appli- 
cation of cold, we may safely, in all cases, excite capillary action 
rm the surface, by heat and friction ; the body and legs may be 



156 THK MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

clothed, as the case seems to require, having previously rubbed 
them with a wisp cf straw ; when there is great chilliness, wa 
find a loss of equilibrium in the circulation, and, of course, inter- 
nal engorgements; and ibis state cannot always be altered by 
internal medicine alone ; therefore we resort to the use of caloric 
externally, and stimulants internally. The following is fre 
quently used by us : — 

Powdered ginger, 3 drachms, 

" charcoal, .... 2 drachms, 

Flour gruel, 1 pint, 

Oil of peppermint, 20 drops, 

for a drench. Another dose may be given at the end of six 
hours, and is only contra-indicated by a too sudden stoppage of tha 
discharge, which we must not be too anxious to check, A nu- 
tritious diet is always indicated in cases of prostration or debility. 
In almost all cases of chronic diarrhoea, we use a large quantity 
of charcoal, with the very best effect, allowing the animal also a 
liberal supply of flour gruel, seasoned with salt and cinnamon. 
If astringents are needed to check immoderate discharges, that 
have continued for several days, and apparently weaken the pa- 
tient, we use hardhack, gum catechu, or bayberry bark. Diar- 
rhoea occurring in a plethoric animal must not be immediately 
checked, but rather encouraged at first, by giving a dose of lin 
6eed oil and lime water ; two ounces of the former to six of the 
latter ; it can then, at the proper period, be checked with the 
above remedies. If the disease depends on deranged digestive 
function, — the liver included, — give a few doses of the folic w 
ing: — 

Powdered goldenseal, .... 2 ounces. 

" ginger, 1 ounce. 

Salt, 1 i.uLce 

Dose, half an ounce twice a day. 

FALLING DOWN OF THE FUNDAMENT. — {Prolapsus Ant.) 

Falling of the fundament is generally occasioned by const ipa- 
tion of the bowels, wherein a large quantity of fecal matter ac- 
cumulates in such a manner as to cause a portion of the rectum 
to protrude beyond the sphincter muscle of the anus. This 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 157 

muscle, however, at times, seems to have lost Ihe power of con- 
trading to its normal size, from the pressure from within out 
wards; hence the great difficulty of keeping the parts wilhic 
their limits, even after they have been returned. 

The difficulty may also be occasioned from inordinate peristal- 
tic action, known as purging, looseness, and diarrhoea ; it pro- 
ceeds then from debility, and besides using local astringents, the 
patient's health must be restored by means of nutritious diet and 
alterative astringent medicines. Powerful drastic cathartics and 
ovtr-exertion are classed among the causes of prolapsus. 

Treatment. — If the case be one originating in constipation, 
the bowels must be evacuated with the following drench ■ — 

Linseed oil, 12 ounces. 

Tincture of aloes, 2 ounces, 

Powdered ginger, 3 drachms. 

If, however, the bowels can be evacuated with any of the saline 
aperients, such as epsom or glauber salts, they are to be preferred. 
The. object is to unload the bowels, and the less medicine and the 
more mild its operation, the better. When the bowels have re- 
sponded to the medicine, they must be kept soluble by scalded 
mashes, green food, if it can be had ; a liberal allowance of 
salt will be of benefit, not only in view of preventing constipa- 
tion, but also for the purpose of preventing the food generating 
the usual quantity of carbonic acid gas ; the result of which would 
be distention of the bowels, and great obstruction to the return 
of the gut. If the bowels are merely in a torpid condition, and 
the constipation has existed but a short time, the following aperient 
will be indicated : — 

Flowers of sulphur, .... 1 ounce, 
Powdered bloodroot, .... 2 drachms, 

To be mixed in a bottle, with half a pint of molasses and water, 
fin a drench. 

The rectum must be returned by the most gentle means, and 
kept in position by pad and bandage. Before returning the parts, 
tbay should be freely bathed with cold water; the water may be 
made slightly astringent by the addition of a few drops of tinc- 
ture of muriate of iron, or a small quantity of powdered alum. 
The. cold water contracts the capillary vessels, and subdues 
14 



158 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

inflammatory symptoms, and of course reduces the size of the 
tumor, so that some time should be spent in bathing the parts ere 
the reduction be attempted. 

A case of prolapsus ani was treated by the author a short time 
ago, which is here introduced as an example to illustrate the 
treatment. The subject was a bay gelding, nine years old, of 
plethoric habit ; he had been used but little during the previous 
three weeks, although kept on full feed ; the groom had noticed 
that the animal strained hard in voiding the excrement, and that 
considerable protrusion of the rectum took place at such times. 
The prolapsus was of two days' duration ere the author's atten- 
tion was called to it. 

The protrusion was large, presenting a highly-inflamed lobulai 
surface of thickened mucous membrane, very sensitive, and some* 
what gangrenous near the anal opening ; emitted a fetid odor 
nnd discharged a sanious fluid. 

Treatment. — A drench was given, composed of 

Sulphur, 1 ounce, 

Cream of tartar ^ ounce, 

Flaxseed tea, 1 pint. 

After which, a clyster of salt and water, to avoid mortification, 
was administered. It brought away some slimy excrement, yet 
aggravated the prolapsus. The parts were then bathed by means 
of a soft sponge, with an astringent wash, (one ounce of tincture 
of mui'iate of iron to a bucket of water,) which, after a time, re- 
duced their size. With a view of producing an astringent effect, 
and thus collapsing the rectum, a small portion of the liquid was 
thrown into the interior, taking care to let it flow from the syr- 
inge in a gradual manner, so as not to excite peristaltic action. 

Reduction of the Tumor. — A pad of linen, wetted with alum 
w^ter, was placed on the tumor, and constant pressure, aided by 
a sort of kneading of the fingers, was kept up for some time, but 
to no purpose, when the following expedient was resorted to: 
Having procured a middling-sized bladder, the air was pressed 
out of it ; on being softened with warm water, a common horse 
catheter was introduced through its neck, and there fastened 
with twine ; after being smeared witli olive oil, it was introduced 
within th< rectum ; an assistant was now directed to place the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 153 

other end of the catheter in his mouth, and gradually inflate the 
bladder. After being sufficiently inflated to occupy considerable 
space, it was gently pressed forwards, and by kneading and pres- 
sure on the external tumor, it was immediately reduced. On 
removing the finger from the open orifice of the catheter, which 
had been placed there to keep the bladder inflated, the latter 
collapsed, and was shortly after withdrawn. Pressure, by means 
of pad and bandages, was kept up for several hours ; at which 
time the patient showing signs of a desire to dung, the bandages 
were loosened so as to permit elevation of the tail. Some 
faeces, accompanying the fluid which was thrown into the rectum, 
came away, following which a protrusion of the gut. This, by the 
aid of astringent lotion and manipulation, was easily returned. 
The animal at this stage was left in charge of its owner for the 
night, who was instructed not to let him lie down, and to return 
the rectum if it should again protrude. 

On inquiring next morning, the attendant informed us that 
the patient had voided feeces twice, and that the gut protruded 
each time, although much smaller than at first, and more readily 
reduced. Our own observation, at a later period in the day, dis- 
covered that the tumefaction, irritable and inflammatory state of 
the parts, had subsided, and also that a portion of the mucous mem- 
brane had sloughed off, and the muscular coat of the rectum 
was perceptible ; a few soft, pulpy lobules of mucous membrane, 
of a gangrenous aspect, remained, and they were dressed with 
pyroligneous acid and pulverized charcoal. The following (anti- 
septic and alterative) was given : — 

Powdered charcoal, ... .1 ounee, 
Fine salt, ) t ■. , 

Sulphur, J ocll > ' Jounce. 

Stirred in a mess of scalded shorts. 

Bathing the anus and the surrounding parts with cold water 
every two hours, and an antiseptic injection at night, concludes 
the second day's treatment. The patient was deprived, from the 
first, of all food except a small quantity of fine feed slops, the 
object of which will be apparent to the reader. 

Third day, the bowels were soluble ; evacuations, however 
scanty; pulse and respirations, which had hitherto been disturbed, 
were normal ; no prolapsus since yesterday. 



160 THE MODEBN IIOBSE DOCTOR. 

Gave 

Pyroligricous acid, 3 drachms, 

Thin gruel, 1 pint. 

Cold water bathings were continued. This comprises about 
the whole of the treatment. The animal gradually returned to full 
diet, and from exercise to work. 

Operation for Prolapsus Ani. — In the event of failing to 
return the engorged gut by the means here recommended, and tlw 
difficulty increasing, nothing remains but to operate by excision. 
Our first business is, to secure the patient, so as to guard the 
operator from personal injury: if the horse is of gentle disposition, 
a side line and twitch may suffice; but if he proves restive, and 
seems unwilling to have the parts handled, he must be cast ; it 
is good policy, however, not to cast a horse unless we are con- 
vinced that it is our only resource. The instruments needed for 
the operation are, a common scalpel, tweezers, scissors, an armed 
needle, ligatures of saddler's silk, a bucket of water, and sponge. 
The tail is to be turned upwards and forwards, on the rump, and 
there held by an assistant. The operator then dissects the en- 
gorged mucous membrane from the muscular coat of the rectum, 
taking care not to injure the latter. 

In the course of the operation, some ramifications from the 
rectal arteries will be divided ; the sponge, and perhaps the water 
may now be needed, to wash off and absorb the blood, so as tc 
enable the operator to see and take up, with the tweezers or 
forceps, the bleeding arteries ; if they can be so taken up, they 
are to be secured by ligature ; if any difficulty is experienced in 
getting hold of them, pass an armed curved needle partly around 
the bleeding vessel, including some of the mucous tissue, and thus 
secure it. After excising the parts, wash with cold water, and 
ascertain if any bleeding vessels remain untied ; being all secured, 
the operation is completed. Some persons dress with some soil 
of traumatic, viz., tincture of myrrh, &c. ; but, in a case that 
occurred lately, we used nothing but cold water, throwing, by 
means of a syringe, a pint into the rectum morning and evening. 
The patient must be kept on a light, unirritating diet, and huvj 
walking exercise as often as convenient. If constipation super- 
renes, give a dise of cream of tartar and sulphur. Any unhealthy 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 161 

appearance about the interior of the fundament, or fetid discharge 
from the anus, which may occasionally happen in warm weather 
must be m3t by antiseptics : diluted acetic acid, pyroligneous 
acid, solution of chloride of soda, are among the articles best cal- 
culated to arrest morbid action. 

SCOURS AND CONSTIPATION IN YOUNG COLTS. 

A friend, residing in the Mohawk valley, informs us that manj 
young colts are troubled in thaf vicinity with scours — diarrhoea — 
after they become a week old ; and that others, at the same age, 
die of constipation. As the disease, in all probability, is not pecu- 
liar to that regLa, we propose to give the reader our opinion on 
that subject. In the treatment of scours, or constipation, occur- 
ring in animals of tender age, too much attention cannot be paid 
to the mother; she, having just passed through a trying ordeal, — 
the period of gestation, — and having brought forth her young, 
now requires, to say the least, what might be commonly termed 
a little kind nursing. It is a common element in the nature of 
mankind to sympathize with those in pain or distress, and our 
sympathies should at all times extend to domestic animals. At 
no time has the female greater claims on us than at the very 
interesting and to them trying period of parturition ; and if that 
care be bestowed upon them which their condition requires, and 
which they are entitled to at the hands of their " lord and mas- 
ter," many maladies which are of daily occurrence, both to them- 
selves and offspring, might possibly be prevented. In our esti- 
mation, it is not a feature of good husbandry, to say the least of 
it, to turn a mare out to grass, or elsewhere, to shift for herself, 
immediately after foaling, particularly after she has been sub- 
mitted to all the evils of domestication ; for she may not be able, 
from the scantiness of the provender, to obtain sufficient nourish- 
ment for herself and offspring ; for the colt must now, and, 
indeed, until it be able to masticate food, depend altogether on 
the parent's milk, and the latter cannot furnish it in sufficient 
quantities unless kept on generous food. It is pretty hard work 
for a mare that has always been pampered and fed on highly 
nutritious food to procure enough to supply her own and the 
14* 



162 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

foal's wants, and the practice has been very appropriately termed 
" working for a living." "We should have no hesitation provideo 
the mare, having passed safely through the parturient process, is 
now doing well, in recommending that she be turned, for a few 
hours daily, into a good wholesome pasture ; not, however, until 
twenty-four hours after her delivery. When taken up for the 
night, a wide stall, good bedding of clean straw, and a generous 
supply of her usual food, should be assigned her. Mr. Youatt 
directs that, " As soon as the mare has foaled, she should be turned 
into some well-sheltered pasture, with a hovel or shed to run into 
when she pleases; and if the grass is scanty, she should have a 
couple of feeds of corn daily. The breeder may depend upon it, 
that nothing is gained by starving the mother and stinting the foal 
at this time ; it is the most important time in the life of an animal, 
and if from false economy his growth be now arrested, his puny 
form and want of endurance will ever afterwards testify the error 
that has been committed. The food should be given in a trough 
on the ground, that the foal may partake of it with the mother." 
White also recommends, " that the dam should be well fed." 

Now, suppose that, in consequence of a want of attention tr 
these and other particulars, (all forming a necessary part of stable 
economy,) the mother shall be the subject of temporary functional 
derangement; and if so, the foal will also suffer in like manner ; 
for the mother cannot have any derangement of the digestive 
function, however slight, but it will also affect the nursling.* 



* The milk of a woman (and we may add that of a horse, to a certain extent/ 
differs, — 

" 1. In Respect to Food. — The milk of a woman who suckles, living upon 
Tegeto- animal food, never acesies, nor coagulates spontaneously, although 
exposed for many weeks to the heat of a furnace. But it evaporates gradually 
in an open vessel, and the last drop continues thin, sweet, and bland. The 
reason appears to be, that the caseous and cremoraceous parts cohere together 
by means of the sugar ; hence its acescence is prevented. It does acesce, if 
mixed or boiled with vinegar, juice of lemons, supertartrate of pctassa, dilute 
sulphuric add, or with the human stomach. It is coagulated by the acid of suit, 
or nitre, nr.\ by an acid gastric juice of the infant; for infants often vomit up 
the coagulated milk of the nurse. The milk of a suckling woman who lives 
ui/f»n vegetable food only, like cow's milk, easily and of its own accord acesces, 
ftnd is acted upon by all coagulating substances like the milk of animals. 

" ?.. n Reject to the Time of Digestion. — During the first hours of digestion 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 163 

Hen« our first duty is to attend to the wants of the mother — 
establish her health if it be impaired ; then, if the foal has scours^ 
or constipation, we may set abou obviating the difficulty with 
some chance of success : even then it is not always good policy 
to administer medicinal agents to an animal of a few hours' 
growth ; but we can, with safety, provided our agents are sar.a- 
tive, use them on the mother, and thus the foal will have the 
benefit of them through the lacteal secretion, for it is a well 
established fact that many medicinal agents pass into the bring 
organism unassimilated, and can be detected in the various secre- 
tions : thus the color of the cow's milk is changed when tbat ani- 



the chyle is crude, and the milk less subacid ; but towards the twelfth hour 
after eating, the chyle is changed into blood, and then the milk becomes yel- 
lowish and nauseating, and is spit out by the infant. Heuee the best time foi 
giving suck is about the fourth or fifth hour after meals. 

"3. In Respect to the Time after Delivery. — The milk secreted immediately 
after delivery is serous, purges the bowels of the infant, and is called colostrum. 
But in the following days it becomes thicker and more pure, and the longer a 
nurse suckles, the thicker the milk is secreted. 

" 4. In Respect to Food and Medicines. — Thus, if a nurse eat garlic, the milk 
becomes highly impregnated with its odor, and is disagreeable. If she indulges 
too freely in the use of wine or beer, the infant becomes ill ; from giving a pur- 
ging medicine to a nurse, the child also is purged ; and, lastly, children afllicted 
with torpor of the bowels, arising from acids, are often cured by giving the 
nurse animal food. 

"5. In Rrspect to the Affections of the Mind. — There are frequent examples 
of infants being seized with convulsions, from suckling mothers irritated by 
anger. An infant of one year old, while he sucked milk from his enraged 
mother, on a sudden was seized with a fatal hemorrhage, and died. Infants at 
the breast, in a short time, pine away if the nurse be afflicted with grievous 
care ; and there are also infants who, after every coition of the mother, or even 
if she menstruate, are taken ill." 

The use of the mother's milk is, — 

•' 1. It affords the natural aliment to the new-born infant, as milk differs little 
from chyle. Those children are the strongest who are nourished longest with 
the mother's milk, f This we doubt.] 

" 2. The colostrum should not be rejected, for it relaxes the bowels, which in 
new-born infants ought to be open to clear out the meconium.* 

"3. Lactation defends the mother from a dangerous reflux of the milk into 
the blood, whence lacteal metastasis and leucorrhwa are so frequent. 

* Meconium ; the green excrementitious substance that is found in the large intes- 
tine of the foetus in lying-in women, who do not give suck. The motion of the milS 
also, being hastened through the breasts by the sucking of the child, prevents the 
very common induration which arises in consequence of the milk being stagnated, 
<— Hooper. 



164 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

mal is fed on beeis ; when fed on garlic, its odor can be d*Hccte<l 
in that fluid ; and every farmer knows that turnips impart theii 
own taste to it also. Stock raisers might learn a lesson from 
nurses who attend human parturients ; they give the old-fashioned 
dose of castor oil understandingly, knowing from long experience 
that it operates both on the mother and child. Hence, if the foal 
shall sulfer from constipated bowels, and the mother be in the 
same condition, the medicine should be given to the latter : thus 
many young animals might be saved ; that they do die from the 
efFect of drastic purges we know, and our correspondent testifies 
to the fact, for he says, " Some have constipation, and are often 
killed by forcing salts down them." It must be evident that salta 
and aloes are not the best remedies in the world for colts but "a 
few days or a week old." A human practitioner who could be so 
reckless as to administer like remedies to the new-born infant, 
would certainly be censured, and run a great risk of losing hia 
patient. The milk of the mother, immediately after parturition, 
is the best kind of medicine to regulate the secretions and excre- 
tions of the offspring, and it generally has the desired effect, 
unless, as we have said, the mother is ailing. There may, how- 
ever, be cases where, in consequence of exposure, the foal mav 
have diarrhoea ; then the little subject becomes an object of 
Bpecial attention, as regards his management. He must be placed 
in a warm situation, with a view of restoring the exhalant func- 
tion of the skin, for until this is restored there is but little chance 
for recovery. Having taken these preliminary steps, perhaps all 
that will now be needed for the cure is some warm ginger, or 
caraway tea; and a little of either of these simple articles, pul» 
verized, may, with advantage, be given to the mother in her food, 
Jf the latter be the subject of scours — diarrhoea — then our chief 
attention is turned ',o her; we administer such medicinal agenta 
as the nature of the case seems to require ; at the same time, if 
the patient is fat, and has not had sufficient exercise previous to 
parturition, we are not to be in a hurry to stop the discharge, but 
merely to hold it in check. If, on the other hand, our patient i^ 
in poor condition, and still losing fle^h, then, in addition to medi- 
cinal agents, which shoild he of tonic and astringent properties, 
we give freely of gruel made of wheat flour. Under these cur 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 165 

.mi instances, and as long as the scours continue, the foal should 
not depend altogether on its dam for sustenance, but might have 
a daily allowance of boiled cow's milk, cooled to abon.' the tem- 
perature of milk when drawn. Hay tea, to which a small quan- 
tity of cow's milk may be added, is an excellent dx-iuk for the 
young foal in the absence of its mother's milk. Try it, reader, 
on your calves, also, if you have occasion. 

As regards costiveness, green food and scalded shorts are the 
antidotes, and the mother will partake of either with relish ; some 
of the former, if the season permits, should be cut and placed 
before her soon after labor. If the articles fail to have the de- 
sired effect, a dose of aperient medicine — castor oil, or salts — 
should be given, followed by thin gruel; in this way both dam 
and foal may be cured. 

Astringent drink for colts : — 

Angelica root, 1 ounce, 

Cranesbill, 2 ounces, 

Bayberry bark i ounce, 

African ginger | ounce. 

Pour on the above ingredients two quarts of boiling water ; set 

them aside for a few hours. 

Dose. — Half a pint every four hours until the disease is 
checked. If the discharges are fetid, add to each dose half a 
table-spoonful of finely-pulverized charcoal, and if the foal be 
weak and in poor condition, allow it hay tea, thickened with oat- 
meal. 

Probably the safest laxative for young calves, suffering from 
constipation, is sulphur and cream of tartar, of each a tea-spoon- 
ful in molasses. Laxative enemata should, if necessary be ad- 
ministered. 

INDIGESTION. 

This is the great national disease of the United States ; both 
men and horses are alike its victims ; it lies at the bottom of 
almost every disease to which both are subject, consumption not 
excepted. The horse shows it by an unthrifty condition, and 
dry, pen-feathered coat ; his body shrivels and contracts after 
the fashion of that of a smoked herring ; he has a dry-sounding, 
bard cough, mostly noticed after meals, especially when he has 



166 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

just made a hearty one on foul litter, .which he is very apt to do 
at other times, however, he is very fastidious, and, like his mas- 
ter when suffering from the same disease, wili search for some- 
thing nice; failing to find it, the subject has no objection to a 
little dirt, sand, plaster, or a small piece of brick which he mas- 
ticates with considerable relish. The deranged state of the 
digestive organs is generally indicated by an intolerable ftetor of 
breath ; the excrement, too, has the same unpleasant smell, and 
is very variable in color and consistence, often hard and covered 
with slime ; at other times soft, when the presence of intestinal 
parasites can be detected. The urine is scanty, and either col- 
ored or thickened with foreign material ; in fact, both the func- 
tions of excretion and secretion are impaired. The animal is 
generally cross and irritable, and leaves the stable, at working 
time, very unwillingly ; he requires considerable urging while 
travelling, and, of course, is incapacitated to perform his usual 
work. These are the main syrnj:>toms of indigestion ; they are 
not noticeable at first, but gradually arrive at this state, increasing 
in intensity, diminishing, or running into other affections, accord- 
ing to circumstances. Acute indigestion is apt to terminate in 
acute diseases of a different character, and the chronic form in 
diseases of a chronic type. For treatment of acute indigestion, 
see Gastritis. 

Causes. — The causes of indigestion are numerous : too little 
or too much of food, water, or work ; bad ventilation ; exposure; 
poisons ; damaged or highly nutritious food ; working the ani- 
mal on a full stomach, — are all operative in producing indiges- 
tion in its acute or chronic forms. 

Treatment. — In treating cases of disordered digestive organs, 
we first remove, if possible, the cause. In view of ascertaining 
that, we inquire into the history of the patient, and ascertain in 
what way the laws of his existence have been violated, and if 
successful, we apply the remedy, or remove the cause. It is 
impossible to lay down rules as to the quantity of food required 
by a horse, because his health and life are subject to various 
modifications, under a variety of circumstances ; therefore it is 
folly to say how much this or that animal shall have, for the 
quantity suitable for one may be insufficient for the other, and 



THfi MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 167 

rice vtrsa. The amount of exercise, kind of work, and con- 
dition of the animai, are the modifying circumstances which are 
to be taken into account, ere we can form any idea of the amount 
of food required. A foul feeder should, in the intervals between 
meals, be muzzled, or the bedding must be taken away. If the 
animal has been fed on dry food, let him have a mixture of 
boiled oats, shorts, and carrots, well seasoned with salt, to which 
add daily half a table-spoonful of white mustard seed. We ha^e 
used brandy and salt, with very good effect, in several cases of 
this kind — one pint of pale brandy to four ounces of fine salt; 
dose, a wine glass, in oatmeal gruel, night and morning, just be- 
fore meals. A sufficient quantity of good hay will be needed, in 
order to distend the stomach to its healthy calibre, yet the ani- 
mal must not be permitted to spend half his time eating; for 
the digestive organs require regular periods of rest, just as other 
parts of the system do. Attention must also be paid to the water 
which the animal drinks : if it be inconvenient to substitute a 
different kind, throw a handful of pulverized charcoal, daily, into 
the water trough , this will improve the very worst kind, and 
render it innoxious and palatable. 

In view of acting on the system at large, and impEOving the 
general health, take 

Sirup of garlic, 2 ounces, 

Tincture of ginger 2 drachms, 

Compound tincture of aloes and myrrh, 3 drachms, 

Tincture of muriate of iron, .... 1 drachm. 

Mix; to be given occasionally in oatmeal gruel. Or, if it bf 

more convenient, substitute the following : — 

Powdered assafcetida, 1 ounce, 

" ginger, 2 ounces, 

" sulphate of iron 5 drachms, 

" goldenseal, ... . . 1 ounce, 

" pophir bark, . . 2 ounces, 

" capsicum 1 drachm, 

Oatmeal 1 pound. 

Divide the mass into r:xt°en doses ; one to be given, in fbud 
»very night. 



I(i8 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

DISEASES OF THE LIVER- 

JAUNDICE. —(Ictenu.) 

Definition. — A yellow discoloration of the tissues, caused fcy 
an interrupted excretion of bile. 

On making post mortem examination of animals having been 
the subjects of this disease, we find the yellow tinge pervading 
every part of the organization. It is diffused through the whole 
of the muscular, fatty, cartilaginous, cellular, bony structures, 
and has also been detected in the brain. 

Mr. Percivall considers "jaundice to be an unfrequent disease 
among horses ; and one reason appears self-evident, as soon as 
we are put in possession of a knowledge of the causes from which 
it may proceed. I mentioned swelling or compression of the 
hepatic duct as one, in speaking of it as a symptom of hepatitis ; * 
and probably this is the most common one. In the human sub- 
ject, it frequently arises from obstruction of the ducts, either 
from collected or concreted bile in them, to which the name of 
biliary calculi is given ; or it may be the efect of spasm in the 
ducts, or in tnat part 01 the auodenum f where tney terminate $ 
but I am not aware that cases of this kind have occurred in 
veterinary practice ; and one reason, I repeat, is obvious. The 
horse has but a single duct, through which the bile flows as fast 
as it is secreted ; it has no retrograde course to take, no recepta- 
cle to collect in and to concrete into gall stones ; and, as a proof 
that this is one reason, dogs, and such other of our domestic 
quadrupeds as have gall bladders, are all of them much oftener 
jaundiced than horses. People who lead sedentary lives, such as 
corpulent subjects and women, are predisposed to jaundice ; in 
them the bile often grows inspissated I in its ducts, and biliary 
calculi are now and then detected in the stools : this is a cause 



• Inflammation of the liver. 

t The first portion of the intestines ; sometimes called the second ttonuah 
In cattle it is known as the fourth stomach. 
t Thicken«>4 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 169 

of disorder as I have said before, that we can b \t rarely adduce 
in veterinary practice. 

" Jaundice, produced from whatever cause it may be, consists 
ji the absorption of unchanged bile into the circulation, which bile 
becomes diffused and conveyed to every part, giving rise to those 
appearances that are so remarkably characteristic of its presence. 
It does not appear to originate either in defective or altered 
secretion ; for, had not the liver done its office, how could we 
explain the appearance of bile in the system at all ? 

" The yellow aspect that jaundice gives to the skin, the mouth, 
and the eyes, at once betrays its presence. The skin is every 
where dyed yellow, though the change is only visible to us in 
places bare of hair. The membrane of the mouth puts on the 
same appearance. The conjunctiva (the membrane lining the 
eyelids) has a yellowish-pink hue, the cornea is obscured, a yel- 
low sediment may often be perceived floating in the anterior 
chamber, and the iris itself is tinged in places with this yellow 
dye. The bowels are costive ; the excrenientlhat is voided is 
hard, buttony, and dark-colored, besmeared often with a yellow, 
slimy matter, like bile diffused in mucus, and consists of dryish 
masses of ill-digested aliment. The urine is a deep-yellow oi 
orange color, and is sparing in quantity. In the human subject, 
the absorption of bile into the system often generates considera- 
ble disorder, operates, in fact, like so much poisonous matter, 
exciting an itching sensation of the skin, and depressing the 
strength and spirits of the patient ; and the latter of these effects 
is often very remarkable in jaundiced horses. The eyelids are 
drooping or closed ; the head hangs down ; there is evident 
•sinking both of strength and spirits ; and often there is a degree 
of moping stupor present, which, at times, borders on vertigo, 
bo that the animal walks unsteadily, or reels as he moves ; bia 
pulse is about 60 or 65 ; his respiration is unaffected, and his 
flank untucked up. 

" In the treatment of jaundice, our sheet anchor is purging. 
No time should be lost in exhibiting ten or twelve drachms of 
aloes;* and,' if we can insure the administration of it, the 



* The dc«e is too large. 
15 



170 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

decoction is preferable to a bolus. If there waj much sUjpor ot 
vertigo present, I would bleed, but not largely. I would follow 
up the first dose of aloes with half an ounce in solution every 
twelve hours until purgation came on ; we need be under no ap- 
prehensions of super-purgation * in these cases. As soon as the 
bowels are freely opened, apply a blister to the right side, and 
repeat it every twelve hours, f It may be necessary to recur to 
the venesection. 

a Now and then jaundice terminates fatally, and when it does 80, 
the event is commonly sudden ; probably some time has elapsed 
before we are called in ; the bowels resist our first dose of medi- 
cine ; in the mean time the pulse rises in spite of our recurrence 
to the use of the lancet ; the skin and extreme parts become 
cold ; the animal grows senseless, and perhaps vertiginous, and 
in that state suddenly drops and expires. On dissection, the 
liver is found glutted with bile. I found the gland so prodigiously 
distended in one case that the right lobe of it had burst, and dis- 
played a considerable fissure. 

" Now and then we hear of cases of rupture of the liver. I 
have never been present but at the one mentioned above, 
myself, but I am told that large, heavy, draught horses are 

* Excessive evacuation. 

t Humanity calls upon us to dispense with blistering if it can possibly be 
done, there is no necessity for resorting to such cruel means : when counter- 
irritation is really needed — and we doubt if, under the circumstances, it could 
accomplish any good — there are a number of agents that we can safely rely on 
to fulfil that indication, withou t putting the animal to so great pain. 

The only method of getting rid of the bile, diffused in the system, at tht 
same time favoring its passage into the duodenum, and palliating all \irgert 
symptoms, consists in regulating the various secretions : this can only be dot a 
on general principles, for the disease is not only manifest on the surfaces, but 
»lso in the serum of the blood, in the urine and excretions generally, and in 
nearly all the tissues of the body. Suppose jaundice results frcm indige: ti< u ; 
will a blister restore the integrity of the stomach ? 

The coloring matter, and other constituents of the bile, are known lo exist 
originally in the blood ; and it is reasonable to suppose that it may there accu- 
mulate, producing a radical alteration of the litter fluid, a poisoning, as it hafl 
been called. Do blisters purify the blood ? 

Then, again, if jaundice shall originate from an engorgement of bile, in con- 
sequence of the closure of the outlets in the liver, — or the destruction of its 
secreting cells, — in either case a blister is the very last thing we should think 
of resorting to, much less report it every twelve hour*. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 17*1 

more particularly liable to the accident, and that it happens m 
the violent efforts they are compelled to make in drawing heavy 
loads." 

Should the bowels be freely opened, we think that both blister 
and venesection might be dispensed with, for human practitioners 
have found it advisable, in treating disease of this character, to 
dispense with both. 

Case of Jaundice. — November 2, 1851. — Visited a dapple- 
gray gelding, the property of Mr. C. Found the animal standing 
in the stall with his head hanging below the crib ; his position 
that of a weak (apparently lazy) horse; pulse 58, respirations 
17 ; eyelids partly closed ; on raising which, the membranes pre- 
sented a yellow cast ; the same was observed in the mucous sur- 
faces of the mouth. We were told that the urine was of a 
dark-yellow color ; the excrement dark, slimy, and hard. Com- 
menced the treatment by giving 

Powdered mandrake, {podophyllum peltatum,') . 4 drachms, 

Castile soap, in shavings 2 drachms, 

Cream of tartar 2 drachms, 

Powdered ginger 1 drachm, 

Extract thoroughwort 2 drachms, 

Water, 1 quart. 

Two quarts of weak soap suds were now thrown into the 
rectum, which brought away a moderate quantity of fetid 
dung. 

As the animal appeared to be in very fair condition, directions 
were given to keep him on a light diet of scalded shorts. 

November 3. — The horse is in much the same condition as 
yesterday; the medicine, however, has operated. He has par- 
taken of a very small portion of the mashes ; has eaten some hay, 
and drank, at various times, about three gallons of water. Gave 
♦he following in one quart of warm water : — 

Carbonate of soda, 2 drachms, 

Powdered goldenseal, 3 drachms, 

" mandrake 1 drachm, 

" poplar bark, 2 drachms. 

Tho mash to be continued, and a few carrots to be thrown into 
the crib. 

November 4. — The animal is apparently better ; his motions 
tre more lively ; appetite slightly improved ; bowels relaxed ; 



l72 THE MODERN HORSE -DOCTOR. 

arine move abundant, yet of a yellow cast ; the mucous surfaces 
still tinged yellow ; the pulse and respirations have not varied 
much from the commencement. As the bowels appeared to be 
sufficiently relaxed, the mandrake and soda were omitted, and the 
following tonic draught administered : — 

Goldenseal, 2 drachms, 

Extract thoroughwort, 1 drachm. 

Diet — the shorts to be mixed with an equal part of meal, mil 
a small quantity of hay allowed. 

November 5. — The animal has improved some since yester« 
day ; is more lively and willing to move ; the appetite is return- 
ing, and he has partaken of food with good relish ; the excre- 
ment appears more natural, yet has a glossy appearance on 
its surface. We had no opportunity of observing the color of the 
urine, but were told that " it looked well." The yellow tinge haa 
almost disappeared from the membranes of the mouth and eye : 
the latter is quite bright. Ordered the following : — 

Powdered goldenseal, 4 drachms, 

" mandrake, 4 drachms, 

" ginger, 4 drachms. 

Which was divided into eight parts, one to be given in the feed 
twice a day ; the animal to be well groomed, and have walking 
exercise in the open air. 

Saw the horse again on the 7th. The case had now assumed 
a favorable aspect ; scarcely a trace of the yellow tint was to be 
seen. We gave directions to continue the powders, the horse to 
be regularly exercised, and return to his accustomed diet. This 
is the last we saw of the animal; but learned that he was taken 
nut of the city the next day, and soon put to work. 

This disease was probably induced by over feeding on cracked 
corn and oats, which produced irritation of the stomach and intes- 
tines, and the liver became diseased purely by sympathy with those 
parts 

INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER. — (Hepatitis.) 

The parenchyma, (cellular substance which connects the body 
of the liver together,) and serous surface of the liver, are occasion- 
ally the seat of increased vascular action ; rather un frequent, 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 17 

however, in horses : they seem to enjoy, to a certain extent, im- 
munity from a disease which appears to have a greater affinity fof 
the livers of their masters ; or else we have not been smart 
enough to detect it in our patients, having noticed but a few iso- 
lated cases. The most of the symptoms noticed in this affection 
do not differ materially from those noticed in jaundice ; other 
local signs are required, however, to make out a case of acute 
hepatitis ; these are, pain in the hepatic region, extending to the 
right shoulder, so that the patient is lame in the off limb, unsteady 
in his gait, and evinces signs of pain on our pressing in the above 
region. The pulse is strong, skin hot and dry, slight cough, losa 
of appetite, and dull, sleepy look. For consecutive symptoms and 
treatment, see Jaundice. 

When the disease is located in the serous covering of the liver, 
it is called hepato-peritonitis. The treatment does not differ 
from that for the preceding disease. 

Softening, condensation, and tubercles are the result, in some 
cases, of a chronic torm of hepatitis ; for the demonstration of 
these states during the subject's life our diagnosis is all at fault, 
and therefore it is useless to write any thing about the treatment, 
other than to inform the reader that the author's remedies for the 
cure of diseases of the liver are, mandrake,* soap, and carbonate 
of soda. 

* Medical Properties of Podophyllum, (Mandrake.) — Podophyllum, when 
administered to man, is an active and certain cathartic, producing copioua 
liquid discharges, without much griping or other unpleasant effect. Its opera- 
tion resembles that of jalap, but is rather slower, and is thought by some to be 
more drastic. It is applicable to inflammatory affections, which require brisk 
purging. The common names by which this plant is known are May apple, 
mandrake, &c. It grows in almost all parts of the United States 

From our own experience in the use of the article, we can safely lecommend 
it as an efficient cathartic ; very permanent in its operation, generally lea?- 
ing the bowels in a soluble condition. It seems to have a peculiar action 
on the liver, and when given to a horse, in repeated doses of from one to two 
drachms, every twelve hours, operates in the same manner as when calomel is 
prescribed; though less liable to do harm, in the hands of the inexperienced, 
than the latter article. In this view, we term mandrake " the calomel of the 
physopathist." Its range of application, however, is more extensive than that 
of calomel. It may be use I as a substitute for aloes, whenever an aetivq 
cathartic is indicated, in dose* of from four to seven drachms, in the form r -i 
trench. We have frequently used it as an aperient, in inflammation of the 
15 • 



174 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

DISEASES OF THE EYE AND ITS MEMBRANES. 

INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE.— Ophthalmia.) 

Ophthalmia is a disease so familiar to every one, that a de- 
scription of it seems unnecessary. Its sext is in the membrane 
"which lines the inside of the eyelids and covers the white of the 
eye; its diagnostic symptom is vascular congestion. When seen 
and treated in the early stage, it generally yields to very simple 
treatment ; if, however, it advance beyond the primary stage, 
structural and functional alteration takes place. A simple in- 
flamed eye, to some persons, does not appear of much account; 
yet the author would inform such, that from this primary form of 
disease others of a more alarming nature supervene. 

As prevention is mucb cheaper than cure, it must be obvious 
that it is of great importance to practise that system of manage- 
ment, with respect to feeding, exercise, cleanliness, and ventila- 
tion, which is most likely to prevent ophthalmia. When horsea 
are put to regular daily work, their health will be best maintained 
by feeding them regularly three times a day with a mixed diet, 
composed of bruised oats, shorts, meal, crackeo. corn, and cut hay. 
These should be allowed in sufficient quantity, and no more ; for 
too much food must impair the digestive organs and derange the 
general health. 

As regards exercise, it is indispensable. No man or horse can 
ever enjoy good health unless habituated to daily exercise ; it 
tends towards their health and strength, assists and promotes a 
free circulation of the blood, determines morbific matter to the 



tangs and bowels, in doses of two drachms, repeated as occasion seemed w 
require. "With a view of preventing its local action on the mucous surfaces, in 
the latter diseases, we always give it in a thin mucilage of slippery elm. If in 
alterative is indicated, we prescribe it combined with equal parts of goldenseal, 
from one to two drachms of each, daily. We could say a great deal more in 
proof of its extensive therapeutic power, but refrain, in hopes that some of our 
professional brethren will give it a trial. We are not aware that it has eve» 
been used in veterinary practice until of late. The therapeutic (curative) prop 
eities of podophyllum are dependent on the presence of a principle calloJ 
/ odojjliyllin. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 175 

various outlets, develops the muscular powers, creates a natural 
appetite, improves the vrind, and finally invigorates the whole 
Bystem. The exhaustion produced by want of rest is equally 
dangerous ; such horses, at certain seasons of the year, are always 
among the first victims, and when attacked their recovery ia 
generally protracted. 

As regards cleanliness, the brush and curry-comb should be 
used morning and evening ; the latter, however, must be dispensed 
with when the horse is laboring under any form of cutaneous 
disease, at least while in its acute stage. Good rubbing promotes 
the circulation of blood through the capillary vessels, acts as a 
counter irritant, and relieves congestions. Many of the diseases 
to which horses are subject, more particularly those of the ali- 
mentary canal, have their origin in a filthy skin. We are decid- 
edly opposed to the use of the curry-comb with a view of divesting 
the horse's legs of mud and filth, for the parts below the knee and 
hock are destitute of fleshy fibre ; from which circumstance the 
periosteum, enveloping the bone, is more exposed to violence 
from the teeth and edges of the curry-comb. If a horse comes 
from his work covered with mud, the better plan would be to 
detach it, when dry, with a wisp of straw, after which a g »od 
6thT brush will put on the polish. 

The admission of light into stables, being a subject next in 
importance to the former, deserves a passing notice. Nothing is 
bo detrimental to the eyes as sudden transitions from comparative 
darkness to a glaring light ; and probably many of our readers 
have, at some time, experienced the very unpleasant sensation 
of mingled pain and giddiness, which is not readily dismissed, after 
emerging from a dark room, and suddenly coming in contact with 
the glaring rays of the sun ; and if they have, they know how to 
sympathize with a poor horse. 

Treatment. — As soon as the inflammatory symptoms make 
their appearance, the patient should be placed in a situation where 
he shall be free from annoyance of every kind. A cool shed, 
rather darkened, will be the most desirable place ; a very light 
diet of scalded shorts, or gruel, will be all the patient needs, until 
the inflammatory symptoms somewhat abate. 

We commence the treatment by administering an active or 



176 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

mild cathartic, as the case may seem to require : thus, if the 
Dowels are soluble, a mild dose is indicated, consisting of 

Powdered Socotrine aloes, .... 3 drachms. 

" gentian, 2 drachms, 

" cream of tartar, .... 1 drachm. 

Mix with honey for a ball, or with warm water for a drench. 

Should the dung appear hard, covered with slime, or even 
dark -colored, the following must be given : — 

Aloes, 5 drachms, 

Gentian, 2 drachm* 

Mix as above. 

We do not wish the reader to suppose that in all cases of this 
complaint a cathartic is absolutely necessary; for in some 
instances a foreign body may have lodged on the sclerotica, the 
removal of which, and the after application of cold water, may be 
all that are required for the patient's relief. Whereas, to purge a 
horse, under the circumstances, would be both absurd and injuri- 
ous. A careful examination, therefore, of the eye must be made, 
and the inspector having satisfied himself that there is no local 
cause of irritation, and that the nature of the case demands active 
treatment, then a cathartic will be indispensable- 
Local means, for the purpose of allaying irritation, must now 
be resorted to. Authors recommend various articles ; our favorite 
one is, — 

Tincture of arnica, 1 ounce, 

Water, 1 pint. 

In bathing the eye, a piece of soft sponge should be used ; at 
the same time bearing in mind that the eye is highly sensitive, 
and that any unnecessary handling of the part is liable to give 
the patient great pain, and increase inflammation. 

The head should be sponged two or three times a day with 
cold water; nothing tends so much to allay superficial inflam- 
mation as the application of cold water — " It puts out the fire of 
inflammation." 

It has been customary, and the practice has received the sanction 
of eminent surgeons, to abstract blood in this case from the jngu 
lar vein ; but as the author has no sort of confidence in such pro- 
cedure, he cannot recommend it. Bleed the horse through the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 177 

alimentary canal, is our motto, by means of purgatives;* thus 
the superabundant fluids of the body can be drawn off, and the 
Bystem as certainly prostrated as in the use of the fleam ; not tc 
the same extent, however, unless purgation be continued beyond 
the limits of reason and experience. Why should not a system, 
comparatively speaking, of starvation, be superior to the comn on 
mode of prostrating, viz., by bloodletting? for in withholding food 
we put a stop to the nutritive processes, and the animal, as it 
were, lives upon himself, thus reducing the fluids and solids of 
the body: this is just precisely what the practice of phlebotomy 
contemplates. At the same time we seriously protest against 
unnecessary use of physic. Cathartics may now and then be 
indicated, but bloodletting never. This is our honest conviction ; 
yet at the same time we have no ill feelings towards those who 
conscientiously practise the latter. 

During the active stage of this disease, cooling drinks are use- 
ful, because they lessen the febrile symptoms, and at the same time 
prove refreshing to our patient ; and, if composed of suitable 
agents, they tend to aid the exit, by appropriate channels, of all 
excrementitious matter. In this view we use cream of tartar or 
epsom salts. One ounce of either article, dissolved in a common 
bucket of water, answers the purpose. 

This drink may be allowed, at discretion, during the time and 
after the medicine shall have operated ; provided, however, the 
animal be not griped from the effects of the physic, nor the evac- 

• " Of the direct effects of a full dose of cathartic medicine on the system, 
we have pretty satisfactory evidence. Not only does it influence the genera] 
distribution of blood by causing a preternatural determination to the abdominal 
viscera, but its operation is attended with a greater consumption of that fluid, 
in consequence of there being an augmentation of the intestii.o. , *nd probably 
other secretions. And when we calculate the extent of the secreting surface 
of the alimentary canal, and take into our consideration that there may be an 
augmented afflux of other secretions to it, in addition to its own, we shall be 
able to form some idea of the loss of vital fluid the system may sustain in this 
way ; nothing indeed, can evince to us the debilitating effects of cathartics more 
strikingly than the quick depression of condition, and with it strength and 
•pirits, which supervene upon excessive purgation. Even as a depletive, 
therefore, next to bloodletting, catharsis is the most potent remedy we pos« 
■*!88 ; and it is chiefly with the intention of determining blood to the bowels, 
and of drawing it off in the form of secretion, that we employ purgation in moel 
inflammatory diseasos." — Percivall's Lectures 



17S THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

uations profuse ; in either case a small portion of ginger may be 
ad led. 

If '.he constitutional and local treatment have not had the ef- 
fect of changing the morbid action of the part, and it remains in 
an irritible state, a mucilaginous fomentation of slippery elm or 
marshmallow roots will be of benefit. If a profuse fluid secretion 
takes place, the application must possess astringent properties. 
The following is a good example: — 

Powdered slippery elm, ... 2 drachms, 
" bayberry bark, ... I drachm, 
Hot water, 1 pint. 

Set it aside until cool ; then strain, and it is fit for use. 

Cold applications generally agree best with an inflamed eye ; 
yet, in the cold months, it may be advisable to apply them with 
the chill off. 

If what is commonly denominated a " speck " should appear, 

then take 

Tincture of bloodroot, ... 1 ounce, 
"Water, 1 pint. 

Bathe the eye three times a day with this mixture, taking care 
to introduce some of it within the eyelids. If the " speck " be 
large and persistent, the tincture alone must be applied by means 
of a camel's-hair pencil. Let it be understood, however, that the 
term speck is merely applied to that opacity which is confined 
to the external tunic of the organ of vision, and must not, 
therefore, be confounded with cataract, which consists of an opaci- 
ty of the crystalline lens or its capsule, preventing the rays of 
light passing to the optic nerve. 

CATARACT. 

In the early stage of this disease, a small white speck appears 
in the centre of the lens ; sometimes, however, it is first observed 
at the upper or lower margin of the pupil ; it gradually increases 
in size until the sight is wholly obliterated. Human practition- 
ers have been successful in the cure of cataract by operation, 
and we think the process of depressing or extracting the dis- 
eased lens in the horse's eye might safely be practised, provided 
it be done before tin retinn (which is an expansion of the optic 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 175 

uerve) is diseased. Some authors urge as a reasor. for not per- 
forming s ich operation on the horse that, the retractor muscle 
draws the eye back so powerfully and so deeply into the socket as 
to render an operation almost impossible. But this difficulty — 
thanks to the discoverers of chloroform — can now le obviated; 
still we have doubts of such an operation as couching (extract- 
ing) being of any benefit to quadrupeds, unless we can form 
some sort of a convex lens to place before their eyes. 

We know of no remedy that can be depended on for the cure 
of this malady other than such as comes under the denomination 
of " alterative," calculated to improve the general condition of 
the patient ; and perhaps such would be of little avail in the 
cure of what is generally considered an incurable disease. 
There are kinds of cataract, however, of a spurious nature, that 
can be absorbed. — For further information on this subject, the 
reader is referred to Percivall's Veterinarian and Hippopathology 

AMAUROSIS, OR GUTTA SERENA. 

This disease (commonly called glass eye) is attended with a 
diminution or total loss of sight. In most cases the pupil is dilated 
to its utmost extent, and incapable of contraction when a light is 
held near it. The eye has so bright and glassy an appearance 
as not to be mistaken. 

The disease may be either symptomatic or sympathetic. Iu 
the first case, it arises from some injury to the brain produced by 
concussion, or from pressure on some portion of the cerebral 
mass. In the latter case, it arises from derangement of the 
organs of digestion. 

Symptomatic gutta serena can only be made to disappear by 
the removal of the existing cause ; if this be impracticable, then 
the trouble is incurable. But if it depend on acute or chronic 
indigestion, we may entertain some hopes of recovery. If the 
disease be of recent origin, and the patient in fair condition, we 
may entertain some hopes of a cure ; yet, after all, that will de- 
pend on the nature of the case. Youatt and some others con- 
sider amaurosis an " incurable disease." These writers probably 
sefer to that form which originates in disease of the retina, optif 



180 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

nerve, or from tumor within the ventricles of the cerebral mass, 
But the most common form of amaurosis in the horse is that de- 
nominated sympathetic. We have seen horses that have sud- 
denly become amaurotic from overfeeding, the subjects at the 
same time leading a lazy life in an air-tight stable, by which 
errors the digestive, as well as other functions, become impaired, 
and reveal their pathological condition by external sign — axxru* 
rosis. We remember the case of a young colt which died of 
chronic indigestion — debility. For several weeks previous to 
death, the animal was amaurotic in both eyes : he would stand 
with his nose protruded, ears erect, and head raised to an unnatu- 
ral position, and the owner informed us that if he attempted to 
move the patient, he would raise his limbs after the fashion of a 
dancing master. Such, together with the dilated pupils, are the 
symptoms to be considered in diagnosing this malady. 

Sympathetic amaurosis, therefore, may admit of cure ; and that 
cure consists in the restoration of whatever function may be de- 
ranged ; the mere application of local remedies to the eye alone 
will be of no sort of use; we must go beyond — seek for first 
causes, and apply suitable remedies in the region of the actual 
disease ; for, in nine cases out of ten, amaurosis is but a symp- 
tom indicating disease of an alarming nature, located, perhaps, 
in the digestive canal. 

The causes assigned for amaurosis in the human subject are, 
compression of the optic nerves ; from debility ; from spasm ; 
and from poisons ; and probably the same causes may produce 
similar results in the horse. 

The treatment of amaurosis must depend on the nature of the 

case; if the subject be in a state of plethora — fat and sleek — 

administer the following cathartic drench : — 

Powdered aloes, 4 drachma, 

" gentian, 2 drachms, 

Common salt, 1 ounce, 

Warm water, 1 pint. 

Ksep the animal on a light diet of scalded shorts ; sponge the 

head with cold water ; give an occasional injection of salt and 

water ; and let the patient have regular exercise. 

If the patient be in a state of anaemia — debility — we musl 

have recourse to tonics and alteratives, with a view of invigor- 



THE MODERN HOESE DOCTOR. 181 

bting the system. The medicine bett calculated to produce 

this rosult is 

Powdered goldenseal, 1 

" gentian, 

" sulphur, > of each 1 ounce. 

" ginger, 

" salt, J 

Oatmeal, 1 pound. 

Mix divile the mass into twelve parts, and give one in the 

food, night and morning. The eye may be bathed twice a day 

with the following astringent lotion : — 

Powdered bayberry bark, . . 1 ounce. 
Boiling water, 1 pint. 

"When cool, strain, and add a table-spoonful of tincture of blood- 
root; it is then fit for use. A good nutritious diet is indis- 
pensable. 

Should amaurosis be the sequel of cerebral disease, little hope 
can be entertained of recovery. Should the reader, however, 
desire to treat such case, he must have recourse to counter irri- 
tation as well as internal medication. As counter irritants, some 
recommend a seton under the jaws ; but probably a mustard 
poultice applied behind the ears would have the same effect. 

SPECIFIC OR PERIODIC OPHTHALMIA. 

The specific or periodic form of ophthalmia differs from com- 
mon ophthalmia. 

1st. The inflammation is deep-seated, and on examining the 
eye, after death, we find the choroid coat highly inflamed, pre- 
senting a scarlet appearance. The vitreous humor appears of a 
light yellow tint ; all the internal structures, and especially the 
lens and its capsule, are highly injected, presenting a network of 
blood vessels ; whereas, in simple ophthalmia the tunica con- 
junctiva alone is commonly affected. 

2dly. Specific ophthalmia, unlike simple, is considered consti- 
tutional, and is subject to regular paroxysms, lasting for two or 
three days at a time. The intermission is noticed by a disap- 
pearance of the acute symptoms, and a restoration of the sight. 
The intermissions are sometimes of several months' duration, 
and we are often led to suppose that the disease has entirely 
IS 



182 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR 

subsided; but a relapse manifesting itself in one or both eyes 
soon undeceives us. 

Causes of Periodic Ophthalmia. — The disease may be in« 
duced by a variety of exciting causes ; hereditary influence ia 
supposed to be one among the many causes prolific of the malady 
yet veterinarians are undecided in their opinions as to whether 
the disease itself, or only the predisposition, is transmitted. Mr. 
Percivall considers hereditary influence as " predisposent only — 
not excitant ; nor sufficient of itself to produce ophthalmia." 
Professor Coleman teaches, in his Lectures, that " the disease is 
never seen prior to the domestication of the animal ; never occurs 
on a common or in the open air, but is the product of the poison 
generated from the effluvia of the breath, dung, and urine of 
horses standing together ; in proof of which the disease is found 
to be more or less prevalent, according as the stables in which 
horses stand are ventilated. In stables that have the most cases 
of inflamed lungs, grease, and glanders, there we find the most 
blindness ; and where these diseases are rarest, ophthalmia is 
least known. Coincident with the opinion of Coleman, and we 
may add Percivall and many other writers, is the experience of 
the author, and many intelligent horse dealers of the United 
States also ; for the disease, in the first place, is not so prevalent 
here as in the crowded cities and barrack stables of the old 
world ; and, secondly, we do not find so many blind horses here. 
Whenever a case of simple or specific ophthalmia occurs, we 
generally find the subject located in a filthy stable, or on low, 
marshy ground, or else he has been shut up for many hours in a 
railroad car, there respiring over and over again the foul products 
of combustion and excretion. The disease, as a matter of course, 
may be induced by mechanical means, — through injuries sus- 
tained, — or by violating, in the stable management of the animal, 
eome physiological law. The disease induced in this way may 
at times, assume in its primary stage, the form of simple ophthal- 
mia, and afterwards degenerate into the disease now under con- 
sideration. 

The use of blinders, which are now fast going out of fashion, 
must tend to irritate the eye- of horses ; and the sooner they are 
entirely dispensed nidi, the better will it he for both horse and 
owner. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 183 

Treatment of Periodic Ophthalmia. — The first thing to be 
done, is to place the patient in a situation where h(, shall be as 
free as possible from exciting causes ; the treatment may then be 
conducted with a ray of hope. Even should the animal be the 
recipient of hereditary predisposition, his removal from a crowded 
stable to the country reduces him, as it were, to a state of nature, 
and tells wonderfully in view of both palliation and cure. 

Antiphlogistic measures, such as topical and general blood- 
letting, purgatives, &c, are usually resorted to in the treatment 
of common ophthalmia, and sometimes with remarkable success ; 
but in a disease of this character, they are worse than useless. 
And lest this our opinion should appear singular, we quote from 
Hippopathology, p. 97 : " Blood has been drawn from the jugular 
vein of the same side as the affected eye, until the animal has 
quite staggered under the evacuation ; the carotid artery of that 
side has been stopped by ligature ; nay, the vessels carrying on 
the inflammation, themselves, as they ran upon the cornea, have 
been severed by scarification and by cauterization, and all to no 
other purpose than that of checking, or, to appearance, subduing 
an inflammatory action, which has been, after a time, sure to return 
with equal or even with redoubled force. A common inflamma- 
tion, once fairly conquered, has no power to revive again ; at 
least not in its original activity ; but as for the inflammation of 
periodic ophthalmia, it will return again and again, after having 
been, to appearances, overpowered ; and, in opposition to our 
most strenuous endeavors, will march slowly or rapidly on, accord- 
ing as the case happens to be acute or chronic, to the ultimate 
destruction of the eye." 

Purgative medicine, also, which has been so highly extolled for 
the cure of conjunctival ophthalmia, has generally failed to ben- 
efit the patient: from these facts alone the reader may form 
some idea of the disadvantages under which a medical man 
labors while treating so formidable a malady. Hence we place 
very little reliance in the antiphlogistic treatment, but have great 
confidence in the means which God and Nature have provided for 
the maintenance of health, and for its restoration when absent 
We therefore recommend the reader to study that branch of 
medicine — hygiene — which treats of the preservation of health 



184 TIIE MODERN FIORSE DOCTOR. 

for without a knowledge of its fundamental principles we cannot 
cure disease. 

Having then removed the patient to a healthy location, we 
make some sort of change in the diet, calculated to have an 
alterative effect. All green fodder may be considered altera- 
tive ; and after a horse has been kept up for some time, and fed 
on stable provender, any description of green succulent herbage 
may be given, with the assurance that it will have a sanatory effect 

The medicine best calculated to cooperate with hygienic 

means, is, — 

Powdered sassafras, / 

" skunk cabbage, r ... of each. 3 ounces, 

" gentian, J 

" sulphur, ... 2 ounces, 

" elm bark, 8 ounces, 

" ginger, 2 ounces, 

" salt 3 ounces. 

Mix ; divide into twelve powders, and give one every night in 
the food. 

The following antispasmodic preparation must be applied to 
the eye two or three times a day : — 

Tincture of Indian hemp, (canabis sativus Lidicus,) . . 1 ounce. 
Rain water, 1 pint. 



DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 

PALSY. — (Paralysis.) 

There are three varieties of paralysis to which horses are sub- 
ject. — Variety 1. Hemiplegia, — affecting one half of the body, 
longitudinally, that is to say, the limbs and body of one side 
only. Should the animal have a sudden attack, and, without 
warning, in an instant fall down, and remain there on the affected 
side, deprived of the power to raise himself, hemiplegia is then 
considered " complete ; " whereas, in u incomplete " hemiplegia, 
the horse remains standing, although, if urged to move, the ex- 
tensors of the limbs seem to have lost their power, and the latter 
•ire merely dragged along. We remember treating a case o» 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 185 

incomplete hemiplegia, occurring in a six year old gelding, sup- 
posed to have been brought on by overfeeding, followed by a 
hard drive. The off side, which was affected, was insensible to the 
prick of a pin, and felt several degrees colder than the other ; 
the head was drawn into an unnatural position partly round to 
the affected side, and the patient seemed unable to straighten the 
neck ; the eye on this side inclined backward, and the lower lip 
and right ear hung pendulous. This horse was left one evening 
in an empty barn, as usual, and next morning the owner called 
und informed us that the patient had fallen during the night, and 
broke his neck ; that the head was doubled completely round on 
the side of the neck, and lay underneath him. We did not seo 
the patient after the accident, but from the man's description of 
the position of the horse, concluded that he must have stumbled 
against something during the night, and in the fall dislocated the 
first cervical vertebra at its occipital articulation. 

Variety 2. Paraplegia. — This affects the posterior half of 
the body, and the subject is found squatting on his haunches, at 
the same time making incessant efforts with his fore extremities 
to raise the body ; but his efforts all prove of no avail ; and after 
the primary excitement has subsided, he will be found sitting 
dog fashion, merely making an occasional effort to get up. In 
this condition the urine and excrement often pass involuntarily. 
Paraplegia generally results from some injury to the spinal cord, 
received in slipping down on the pavements, or otherwise, or else 
through violent efforts at heavy draught ; thus injuring the 
spinal marrow, either by laceration, or effusion into its canal. 
Such cases generally terminate fatally. 

Variety 3. Paralysis partialis. — This is identical with pa~ 
ralysis facialis of the human family, and consists in distortion of 
the parts about the head and face : ordinarily the muscles of the 
face are drawn upwards — one side only ; but in some parts of 
the Western States such subjects have a most unearthly appear- 
ance about the face ; it seems to affect them on both sides of the 
head, so that the upper lip is doubled completely upwards, and 
both eyelids are raised, so as to expose the greater portion of the 
upper part of the eye : there is, however, in the latter case, 
tremulous agitation of the head and limbs, and sometimes of the 
16* 



186 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

whole body, which does not take place in simple paralysis 
facialis. 

Paralysis partialis is generally the sequel of indigestion ; 
therefore the cure consists in restoring the digestive function to its 
normal state. A change of diet, laxative medicines, tonics, ex- 
ternal frictions, light work, and pure air, are the means best cal- 
culated to restore the patient. The external irritant we gener 
fclly make use of, in all cases of paralysis, is composed of 

Oil of cedar, 1 ounce. 

Tincture of capsicum, 6 ounces. 

Linseed oil, 1 pint. 

To be applied daily over the region of the spinal column, and in 
the vicinity of the paralyzed parts. 

Whatever may be the cause of this disorder, we cannot err in 
combining antispasmodics * with whatever medicines are admin- 
istered. There are three kinds which we are much in favor of, 
viz., assafoetida, garlic, and Indian hemp. The dose of the 
former is, one drachm of the powder ; garlic we use in the form 
of sirup — from one to three ounces ; and the latter in the form 
of tincture — from one to three drachms. 

Should the patient, in consequence of overfeeding and want 
of sufficient exercise, be in a state of plethora, which may be 
known by a sleepy, unwilling gait, redness of the membranes of 
the eye, constipated bowels, and thick, sometimes high-colored 
urine, the antispasmodic may then be combined with six or seven 
drachms of aloes, and a pint of warm gruel, with which the 
horse may be drenched. The diet should be fine feed, scalded, 
and well seasoned with salt. 

Paralysis is very frequently a symptom of cerebral disease, 
and must be treated accordingly. See Staggers, &c. 



* Antispasmodics have been defined as " agents which overcome inordinato 
muscular action ; " therefore all nauseants — and among them we include warrn 
water and lobelia — are antispasmodic. The reader has probably experienced 
the relaxing and beneficial effects of a warm bath, or a warm cup of tea ; and 
tc reason from analog)', he may conclude that warm fluid, applied either inter- 
nally or externally, has the same effect on a horse. Under the head of Anri 
ipasmodics, Professor Morton enumerates alcohol, ether, oil of turpentine, 
ipium, spirit of nitric et'ier. Professor Curtis considers all the essential oil* 
antispasmodic 



THE MODERN HOESE DOCTOR. 187 



LOCKED-JAW. — ( Trismus, Tetanus.*) 

Tetanus is a disease of nervous origin, affecting ll e muscle? 
of external relation, through the agency of perverted nervoii. 
force ; it consists in a permanent spasm of some, and in the latter 
Btages all, of the voluntary muscles ; it is subject occasionally to 
alight remissions, but no relaxation. 

In the human subject, we recognize three peculiar features — 

1. The body is bent forwards — anticus. 

2. Body bent backwards — posticus. 

3. Body bent sidewise — lateralis. 

The horse, however, is most subject to that form of disease 
known as trismus, which means painful, fixed, and rigid con- 
traction of the jaws, mouth firmly closed ; and one or more of 
the above features are generally blended with trismus. Yet, at 
the onset, the locked-jaw may be the first symptom that arrests 
our attention, and so long as this symptom remains unconnected 
with spasm, or stretching of muscles of the trunk, (it seldom 
affects those of the limbs,) the case is one of pure trismus — 
locked-jaw. 

That form of the disorder which is most prevalent in this 
country is termed traumatic, resulting from wounds — docking, 
-pricking, &c. ; from injury to sensitive tissues ; arising also 

* S. G. Wilmot, member of the Royal College of Surgeons, who has great 
experience in the treatment of tetanus, communicates for the Dublin Medical 
Journal the following : — 

" 1. Tetanus depends on irritation, directly or indirectly, of the excito- 
motory system, or true spinal cord, by which it becomes surcharged with motor 
influence ; and that inflammation in or about the cord, or any appreciable lesion. 
in not an essential condition for the development of the disease. 

"2. That our grand object, in the treatment of tetanus, should be to sup- 
port the patient's strength, by the administration of stimulants and strong 
nourishment, with a view, as it were, to compensate the vital powers for their 
great exhaustion, consequent upon the expenditure of force, by the violent 
muscular contractions, which in some cases are excessive. 

" 3. That, as the removal of the exciting cause — when once the first evidence 
that irritation has been propagated to the spinal cord becomes manifest — does 
not in the least degree check the progress of tetanus, or abate the violence ot 
its symptoms, all operations in traumatic case^ are generally net oniy unne- 
cessary, but injurious." 



188 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

from driving a nail (when shoeing) in the wrong direction, and 
from puncturing the foot, by picking up a nail. It is generally 
supposed that w r hen locked-jaw follows an accident of this kind, 
u nerve must have been injured : it may happen so in some 
cases, but we have known a horse to die of this malady, when 
the brunt of the exciting disease was expended on the coffin 
bone and navicular joint, which were extensively ulcerated ; there 
were no signs of any injury to the nervous filaments, ai.d, if a 
nerve had been injured, would not its abnormal action have merged 
into the more formidable one progressing in the cartilaginous and 
bony structures ? For it is generally supposed that two distinct 
diseases, one of the nerves and another of the osseous structure, 
could not coexist : hence the locked-jaw must have yielded, if it 
had existed in consequence of injury to a nerve. The locked- 
jaw was, no doubt, sympathetic, and probably a great propor- 
tion of those cases termed punctured nerve, are of sympathetic 
origin. 

That locked-jaw frequently occurs as a sympathetic affection, 
we have abundant evidence. Many horses, whose digestive 
organs have acquired a morbid habit, and have gradually arrived 
at a certain state of intensity, are finally attacked with trismus, 
and die with their jaws set as tight as if held in a vice. 

That locked-jaw is generally a sympathetic affection should be 
known to every man, for a great deal of useless medication and 
unnecessary pain is inflicted on animals, when, if the exciting 
cause was understood, the poor brute might oftener be relieved 
than he now is. 

The very absurd idea promulgated by many, that locked-jaw 
of the traumatic species always results from injury to a nerve, 
and from no other cause, should now be exploded ; the idea 
receives no advocacy from modern veterinarians, and only exbts 
in works of doubtful origin. On consulting Hippopathology, p. 48 
we learn that traumatic tetanus may arise from various causes. 
One case originated from a wound under the eye inflicted by tho 
lash of a whip. "The late Mr. John Field mentions one case in 
which all that he could find to account for it was a saddle gall ; 
and in another there existed only a wound in the neck. * * * 
On one occasion it succeeded cauterization of the jugular vein. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 189 

Two cases are related also, occurring after strangles ; in one of 
them, however, there existed some gastro-intestinal irritation. 

" D'Arboval informs us, that at a remount, depot for cavalry 
established at Bee, (department de L'Eure,) twenty-four horsea 
were castrated on the same day, and afterwards were four times 
a day made to take a cold bath in water derived from an ex- 
peedingly cold spring ; the consequences were, that sixteen out 
©f the twenty-four died of tetanus between the tenth and fifteenth 
days." 

Sympathetic Tetanus. — This is supposed to arise from irrita- 
tion, or some derangement of the digestive organs ; we have seen 
and treated several cases of this character with success ; the chief 
remedies were, assafoetida combined with mineral tonics, (car- 
bonate of iron ;) stimulants ; frictions, with liniment, to the jaws 
and spine ; injections and fomentations. The worst case of sym- 
pathetic tetanus we ever treated was that of a ten year old geld- 
ing. It occurred in the stable of Mr. J. Gilson, West Cambridge 
Centre, during the latter part of 1852. The animal had, previous 
to the attack, been noticed as a ravenous feeder ; and although he 
ate enough to support two common horses, his condition was not 
benefited by it, for he lost considerable flesh; his coat looked 
bad, and he was the subject of constipation and occasional slimy 
discharges. This state of things had continued for some time ; 
when the owner, on going into his stall one morning, to feed, 
found the animal's jaws locked. We saw him a few hours aftei 
wards, and found the jaws unnaturally fixed, yet not closed with 
that vice-like tetanic spasm that is seen in some cases of acute 
tetanus ; the jaws could be opened so as to admit a body the size 
of a man's finger between the nippers. The eye had the usual 
appearance, being drawn backwards, and partly covered by the 
membrane nictitans {haw.) The ears were erected, nostrils ex- 
panded, and the neck was rigidly extended forwards ; the coun- 
tenance presented that anxious and distressing look so easily 
recognized by those who have once seen a case of this character; 
the muscles of the back and the recti of the abdomen were the 
seat of tonic spasm ; the hind limbs were widely separated, and 
the fore were slightly advanced, being in the most favorable 
position for affording support to the inflexible body ; the jaws 



191/ THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

remained in the state just alluded to for the space of sixteen days 
there was no lateral motion to the jaws, but the patient could 
readily imbibe thin oatmeal and flour gruel, and also the thera- 
peutic agents, which consisted of the articles just named, and an 
occasional laxative to keep the bowels soluble. The animal, 
however, came near losing his life oa the very night after 
the jaws relaxed. He had been fed, watered, secured for the 
night, and was left doing as well as any poor horse in his circum- 
stances might be expected to do. Next morning he was found 
down, his eyes tumefied, skin knocked off in various parts of the 
head and body, belly enormously swollen, &c, all going to show 
that he had, during the night, and was now, suffering from flatu- 
lent colic. A barrel of beans scattered on the floor, one side of 
the stall lying flat, and every thing about the barn presenting the 
utmost confusion, went to show, that during the night our 
patient got loose and went on a voyage of discovery within the 
limits of the barn ; in the course of his travels he came across a 
barrel of beans, a savory meal for a half-starved horse, and no 
doubt he tried the strength of his masseter muscles, which had of 
late been quite useless. The sudden change from gruel to hard 
beans was too much for our patient's digestive organs ; hence the 
colic. By the exhibition of diffusible stimulants, carminatives, 
steaming, rubbing, &c, he got over the trouble, but was a long 
while before all his external injuries healed ; he is at the present 
time owned in Roxbury, apparently as well as ever. If we take 
into consideration the animal's previous protracted illness, it seems 
remarkable that he should have recovered. We should therefore 
never despair. Another case of sympathetic tetanus occurred in 
the same town, which was brought to a favorable termination : 
the jaws relaxed on the fifth day, when the patient, in consequence 
of being fed immediately with too bountiful a hand, died a few 
days after of gastro-enteritis. We have lately viewed with 
favor the theory of our veterinary luminaries, that tetanus in most 
cases is of sympathetic origin. Some very interesting remarks 
occur in Hippopathology bearing on this point, which we shall 
bere introduce as valuable acquisitions to our pove;vy-struck vet* 
i rinary literature. 

'• Th sympathetic disorder," writes Mr. PercivalL u as I shall 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 19l 

rail the other form of centripetal tetanus, (having liscussv-d {h'd 
traumatic variety,) is that which, from the absence of all wound 
or injury, we have got into the habit of considering as i liopathic V 
though, in point of fact, while some cases so considered are, no 
doubt, central, i. e., originate within the spinal marrow, others, 
there seems good reason for believing, must be dependent upon 
gome irritation, either within the alimentary canal, or in some 
other part of the body. Should this turn out to be the case, out 
pathology of tetanus will have undergone essential improvement ; 
and we shall be able to account, in a measure, for our therapeu- 
tic agents succeeding in one case and failing in another — a fact 
that has hitherto led us either to regard the asserted remedy aa 
useless, or to attribute its failure or success to an erroneous 
60urce. In a word, by endeavoring to discover the real seat and 
nature of two kinds or forms of disease which have hitherto been 
confounded under the epithet idiopathic, it is manifest we are in 
the road to a very considerable amendment of our method of 
treatment." 

Mr. Percivall quotes also the opinions of Messrs. Karkeek 
and Henderson in support of his own opinion as to the sympa- 
thetic origin of tetanus ; and he introduces, with a view of substan- 
tiating this theory, the opinion of that distinguished surgeon, Mr. 
Abernethy, who, he says, "was of opinion that the injury, what- 
ever it might be, leading to tetanus, first produced disorder of the 
digestive organs; and that disorder occasioned derangement of 
the functions of the spinal marrow, and, through it, of those of the 
system at large, which latter derangement constituted tetanus." 
On page 51 of Hippopathology, a passage occurs, so full of inter- 
est to the American reader, that we take the liberty to transfer it 
to our pages. 

" Mr. A. Henderson, V. S., London, who presented the Veter- 
inary Medical Society with a good practical paper on tetanus in 
1832, 'doubts if the horse has ever the disease except from sym- 
pathy;' and in confirmation of this opinion states, that although 
during life the symptoms have proved insufficient to direct his 
attention to the seat of the source of irritation, examination after 
death has manifested appearances which left no doubt on tho 
mind of Mr. H. about the nature of a case which he had at firs! 



192 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

considered to be idiopathic, i. e., central. And in tne position 
which Mr. H. has taken, I am very much disposed to think, that 
(although I do not believe his theory complete) he stands very 
strong. 

"I feel no doubt myself, that a very large proportion of our 
cases of tetanus originate either from wound, discovered or not 
discovered, or from some other cause of local irritation ; and that 
cause Mr. H. has found frequently to be 'an unusually vascular 
appearance of the large sympathetic nerves, through their various 
ramifications in the chest and abdomen.' In one case, in combi- 
nation with this appearance, he found distention and redness of 
the stomach, with crimson spots upon its pyloric portion ; in a 
second case, with the same, an enormous quantity of bots, several 
of which had eaten through the coats of the stomach ; in a third, 
with the same, an immense number of worms, called terites, in 
the stomach and small intestines, and in some parts of the duode- 
num and jejunum, sufficient to block up the passages. The ves- 
sels of the pia mater were also unusually distended, the brain in 
this case being examined ; and there was more water than usual 
«n the ventricles. To this it may be right to add, that Mr. H. 
found the sympathetic nerves similarly affected in a case of 
tetanus apparently caused by broken knees. Mr. Karkeek, V. 
S., has since made the same observation on idiopathic tetanus ; 
and in regard to it, coupled with the consideration of other facts, 
sagaciously remarks, that ' tetanus depends, if any disease does, 
apon sympathy.' And in another place, says, ' I am of opinion 
that a diseased state of the digestive organs is invariably the 
primary cause, as, on dissection, I have ever discovered it to exist. 
Thus confirming Mr. Abernethy's opinion." 

The reader must bear in mind that the nervous system of or- 
ganic life and the sympathetic nerves, — originating from the 
spinal marrow, — form a network of ganglia and fibrils, which 
are distributed to the various parts of the nutritive and secretory 
apparatus, the fibrils forming a plexus upon the walls of blood 
vessels, and with them running to the various parts of the body 
They possess the power of exciting muscular contractions in the 
various parts to which they are distributed, by reflex action on 
tlieir spinal origin, from whence they derive motive power. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 19-S 

Hence it will readily be perceived by what means a diseased 
condition of a certain organ produces sympathetic disease. Again 
let it be understood that all vital manifestations in the animal 
economy, are entirely dependent on the nutritive function; that 
the properties of all tissues and organs are dependent for their 
integrity on a supply of perfectly elaborated blood ; that respira- 
tion, circulation, and secretion cannot go on unless the nervous 
forces are well balanced ; and that the harmony of that vast and 
complicated apparatus, known as the nervous system, is in turn 
dependent for the performance of its legitimate function on nu- 
trition. Then we can perceive that many diseases, including 
tetanus, may readily arise from perverted nutrition, and inde- 
pendently of any external causes. External causes, however, 
produce the same result, but not so often as people suppose. The 
reason why we thus labor to change the current of opinion in 
favor of the sympathetic origin of this malady is, that a more 
rational system of medication will then follow, and instead of 
blistering, bleeding, and cauterizing, as recommended by Touatt 
and others, — tormenting a poor, dumb brute to no purpose, — 
we may be led to look beyond the imaginary limit, find the real 
seat of the difficulty, and treat it accordingly. 

Treatment of Tetanus. — The author does not wish the reader 
to suppose that all cases of tetanus are curable, or that his treat- 
ment is always successful ; there are cases now and then occur- 
ring which, with the very best veterinary skill, must terminate 
fatally. Tetanic symptoms sometimes develop themselves in 
horses of a peculiar diathesis, which opposes rather than contributes 
to the harmony of the vital forces ; the subjects are not able to 
bear up against the encroachments, which are continually goiag 
on during the long siege of sickness, nor to improve their other- 
wise unhealthy condition, and, consequently, they sink in spite of 
our best efforts. Then, again, cases have come under our ob- 
seivation, in some of which the subject's jaws had been locked 
for wo, and even three, days, ere any thing had been done for 
the animal; some of the owners supposing that the horse had lost 
his appetite, others that the throat was sore, &c. ; so that, under 
such and other circumstances, too numerous to name, yet under- 
stood by medi )al men, we cannot expect to be always successful 
17 



194 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOIl. 

The treatment, in order to be any thing like successful, must L>0 
conducted with enlarged views of the animal economy as a 
whole — we must realize how much one part is dependent on, 
and contributes to, the support, perpetuity, and identity of func- 
tion, o 1 another, and that all parts are united by a common bond 
of sympathetic continuity, as well as cellular structure, and are 
destined, in certain stages of disease, to suffer in common from a 
common exciting or predisposing cause. 

We must also take into account, that the debility present, or 
which may ensue during the progress of tedious or prostrating 
disease, mu3t be met by prompt agents favorable to health, for 
debility (functional or general) may with certainty be consid- 
ered as the principal cause of premature death. With a view, 
then, of promoting the living integrity, and producing an equilib- 
rium of function throughout the whole economy, we must, in- 
stead of prostrating the system by bloodletting and purging, — so 
strenuously urged by most writers, and, indeed, practitioners — 
administer tonics, antispasmodics, stimulants, and laxatives ; for 
there is nothing that we know of so prostrating to the system of 
man or horse as acute pain. Long-continued pain, such as a 
tetanic subject is known to suffer, changes the very elements of 
the blood : so that the fluid on which our very existence depends 
for — using a homely expression — its bread and butter (car- 
bon) is deficient, and the patient may die for want of fuel to 
support pulmonary combustion. There is really no necessity for 
the abstraction of blood in tetanus. For it has been shown by 
Dr. Radcliffe (see Half-yearly Abstract of the Medical Sciences, 
vol. xvi. p. 312, and also No. 17, p. 222, January to June, 1853) 
and by other eminent surgeons, that convulsive, spasmodic, and 
tremulous diseases depend on a decided and unequivocal de- 
ficiency in the duo amount of that stimulus which is supplied to 
the muscles from the blood, nerves, and other sources, and not 
upon an increased afHux of such stimulus. Dr. Radcliffe clearly 
demonstrates, in the papers alluded to, that these, as well as other 
muscular disorders, depend upon the same want, and are manifest- 
ed in a state of general or local debility, and not in one of lualth 
and vigor. Hence the plan of treatment here recommended, and 
by which we have saved several valuable hones, ia superior tc 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 19-J 

ihat which contemplates prostration of the vital forces. It would 
De exceedingly interesting to follow Dr. Radcliffe in his argu- 
ments sustaining the proposition just broached, (the state of thp 
circulation in convulsive and spasmodic disorders ;) but our limit3 
will not allow us to do so. With a view, however, of sustaining 
our own opinion, we quote the following : — 

" The state of the circulation in tetanus may be illustrated by 
two recent cases. One of these was sent to The Lancet by Mr 
Salter, of Dorset. It was that of an old man, upwards of seventy- 
three years of age, whose foot had been partly destroyed by a 
threshing machine. The spasms set in after a prolonged employ- 
ment (for three or four days) of strong purgative mixtures of salts, 
senna, and tartar emetic, along with morphia and aperient pills 
During the spasms the injured foot was pale and numb, the skin 
moist, and the countenance cadaverous. The state of the pulse 
is not specified ; but what this was is to be inferred from the 
foregoing particulars, as well as from the adoption of vigorous 
stimulation with brandy and ammonia when the spasms occurred. 
Indeed, in a man so old, so injured, so antimonialized and purged, 
only one conclusion is possible, namely, that the circulation must 
have been very greatly depressed. This appears also from the 
sequel, which was this, under the new mode of treatment the 
system rallied, and the tetanized parts relaxed ; and this rally- 
ing and relaxation lasted for several days, at the end of which 
the symptoms relapsed. This was after an exhausting and agi- 
tating interview with some friends. Again stimulants were had 
recourse to, and again the spasms disappeared, not to return. 
In the relapse, the pulse is stated to have been extremely feeble, 
and of a typhoid character. In the second patient, the state of 
his system is stated to have been such as to contra-indicate the 
use of ar/ lowering medicines, the spirits being faint and low, 
the countenance anxious, the pulse 98 and weak, and so on. 
Quinine, ammonia, and turpentine were had recourse to ; and 
the result of the treatment was, that the system rallied, and the 
spasms subsided. These instances illustrate the large body of 
cases of tetanus, for certainly the majority are in no way com- 
plicated with any kind or degree of vascular activity ; but &$ 
they illustrate the rule? Axe there no exceptions in which 



i'J6 THE MODERN BOKSE DOCTOK. 

there are plethoric or other active symptoms? The answer, aa 
t seems to us, is clearly in the negative. It is stated by all au« 
thorities, and must be evident to all who have had any experience 
in the disease, that there is no fever in tetanus ; and this of itself ia 
almost sufficient to prove our position; for so anxious have med- 
ical men been to find some fever in maladies of this class, that 
io admit its absence is almost equivalent to admitting the oppo- 
site. Undoubtedly the vascular state in tetanus assumes many 
aspects, and some of these are such as to deceive an unpractised 
eye or an impatient finger. There can be no mistake in such 
cases as have been described, but they may very readily be in 
irritable subjects. In such persons, owing to the excitement of 
examination, or some unusually severe pangs at the moment, 
the pulse, when first felt, may beat with considerable force and 
fubiess, and so give rise to an impression of fever or plethora ; 
but this rapidly passes off, and the color fades ; the pulse flags 
and falters. The pulse, indeed, is eminently changeable, and 
any excitement which may be manifested in it is quite momenta- 
ry, in comparison with the almost constant state of depression. 
It must also be borne in mind, as confirming the same view, that 
in fatal cases the spasms of tetanus continue, and often increase, 
in spite of the progressive failure of the circulatory powers — a 
fact that is only explicable on the supposition that the spasms 
are dependent upon the very reverse of vascular activity. The 
same conclusions arise also out of the cadaveric rigidity ; for in 
this case we have a state of tetanoid, or, rather, cataleptoid con- 
traction, which subsists with stagnation and death of the blood, 
and which endures untiringly until the muscles are broken up 
by incipient decay. In spasms, therefore, as in tremulousness 
and convulsion, there is abundant evidence of a decided lack of 
circulatory power. It would seem, also, as if that lack wevo 
greater in convulsion than in tremulousness, and in spasm than in 
convulsion. * * * Tetanus, we learn from many surgeons, 
is most apt to occur when soldiers are dispirited, exhausted, ill 
fed, and exposed to cold. Cadaveric rigidity is the work of 
death. In short, the causes of tremor, convulsion, and spasm 
ire sach as go to confirm the deductions arising out of the con- 
lition of the vascular, nervous, and muscular systems ; and the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 197 

condition of these systems reacts in confirming the idea that 
these causes are, as they seem to be, of an anti-vital character." 
Taking into consideration, then, that tetanus is a disease of a 
depressing character, we must support the vital powers; and if 
the case is one supposed to originate from the introduction of a 
foreign body within the hoof, or from any other injury evolving 
pain, the sooner we commence to give stimulants and nutritive 
food the better. Flour or oatmeal gruel, made thin enough for 
the animal to suck up, and seasoned with salt, should be kept 
before him ; and whatever medicine seems requisite may be 
administered in this way. As a standing daily medicine, we use 
the following, and we can conceive of no case that would contra- 
indicate its use. Take 

Powdered assafoptida, ... 12 drachms, 

" carbonate of iron, . 6 drachms, 

" capsicum, ... 3 drachms, 

Salt, 1 ounce, 

Cream of tartar, 2 ounces. 

Mix ; divide the mass into twelve parts, and give one every 
night. The jaws and spine are to be rubbed for at least two 
hours, daily, with a portion of the following : — 

Tincture of capsicum, ^ 

Essence of Sr?'. \ ■ of each i a pint. 
Beefs gall, ... J 

The parts are also to be occasionally lubricated with olive oil ; 
the jaws to be encircled with flannel. Should the horse have been 
pricked in the foot, take off the shoe, and having found the orifice 
where the nail entered, examine it, and see if there be any foreign 
body within it ; if so, remove it ; enlarge the outer orifice with the 
point of a knife ; then, having cleansed the part, apply the follow- 
ing poultice : — 

Powdered hemlock bark, } 

" lobelia, C equal parts. 

" slippery elm, ) 

Moisten with boiling water, then add a handful of soft soap, 
When sufficiently cool, apply it to the foot in the usual manner, 
renewing it daily. If at the end of three or four days no dis- 
charge appears, it may be discontinued, and a common dressing 
of tincture of aloes applbd 
17* 



IJ9 THF MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

Injectirns. — In view of evacuating the lower bowels and red 
turn, we give clysters of soap suds, and in view of supporting tho 
strength, (after evacuating the former,) we resort to meat broth 
and flour gruel, to be used as occasion may require. If the 
patient be of plethoric diathesis, we need not be in too great hurry 
to administer nutriment,* but should simply keep the bowels in 
a soluble state, by a dose of cream of tartar and sulphur; four 
drac-hms of the former to about six of the latter, being about the 
right proportion. If any exciting cause exists, we, of course, pay 
attention to this, and to the relaxation of the jaws. If they are 
rigidly set, and the external application fails to give relief, we 
may try warmth and moisture. A lobelia poultice applied around 
the jaws, and kept moist with warm water, will generally do good, 
even in the very worst cases. 

Some patients, at the commencement, show unmistakable symp- 
toms of debility ; to all such we give, with a liberal hand, strong 
sage tea, or infusion Df gentian, sweetened with honey. The 
cases that have terminated favorably, have been treated some- 
what after this simple fashion. We have tried chloroform, and 
cold water, and feel satisfied that they did more harm than good, 
and thus hastened the death of several patients. 

The disease frequently sets in after docking and nicking. In 
6uch cases the books tell us to prick, or nick deeper, and dock a 
little higher up. This looks very well on paper, but fails in ap- 
plication. We never saw any benefit derived from the barba- 
rism ; we think, however, that a good poultice of bayberry bark 
and lobelia, applied to the tail, might answer a better purpose. 
But the trouble is not in the tail ; yet it might be gangrenous ; 
then, in view of removing exciting causes, it must be amputated : 
at such stage, however, we have doubts of its efficiency, for thr 
disease is beyond the reach of the knife. 

Very little improvement has taken place in the treatment of 
tetanus. Veterinary surgeons have generally followed somewhat 

* Nutritive Enemata. — A horse may, for a long time, be supported on nu- 
tritive enemata, composed of flour, or fine oatmeal gruel, mixed occasionally 
witn a little salt. There is a case recorded in the Foreign Quarterly Retro 
tpect, of a man unable to swallow, who was supported thirty-nine days on nutri- 
ment adur'nistered per rectum. 



THE MODEBN HORSE DOCTOR. 199 

in the footsteps of human practitioners, whose aim and view of 
cure, Hooper tells us, is, — 

"1. To remove the local cause or irritation, which may appear 
to have excited the disease. 

" 2. To lessen the general irritability and spasmodic tendency. 

" 3. To restore the tone of the system. 

" If a thorn or other extraneous substance be lodged in any part, 
it must be extracted ; any spicula of bone, which may have brought 
on the disease after amputation, should be removed ; a punctured 
wound ought to be dilated, &c. Some have proposed dividing the 
nerve going to the part, or even amputating this, to cut off the irri- 
tation ; others paralyzing the nerves by powerful sedatives, or de- 
stroying them by caustics ; others, again, exciting a new action in 
the parts by active stimulants ; but the efficacy, and even propriety 
of such measures are doubtful. To fulfil the second indication, 
various means have been proposed. The abstraction of blood, 
recommended by Dr. Rush, might perhaps appear advisable in 
a vigorous plethoric habit, in the beginning of the disease ; but it 
has generally proved of little utility, or even hurtful, and is rather 
contra-indicated by the state of the blood. [Mark that, ye who 
advocate bloodletting.] Purging is a less questionable measure, 
as costiveness generally attends the disease ; and in many cases 
it has appeared very beneficial, especially when calomel was 
employed. It has been found, also, that a salivation, induced by 
mercury, has sometimes greatly relieved the disorder, but in 
other instances it has failed altogether. 

" The remedy which has been oftenest employed, and with the 
most decided advantage, is opium ; and sometimes prodigious 
quantities of it have been exhibited : indeed, small doses of it are 
useless, and even large ones have only a temporary effect, so 
that they must be repeated as the violence of the symptoms is 
removed; and where the patient cannot swallow, it may be tried 
in clyster, or rubbed freely into the skin. Other sedative and 
antispasmodic remedies have been occasionally resorted to, a3 
hemlock, tobacco, musk, camphor, &c, but, for the most part, 
with less satisfactory results. The warm bath has sometimes 
proved a useful auxiliary in cold climates ; but the cold bath ia 
much more relied on in the West Indies, usually in conjunction 



200 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

with opium. In Germany, alkaline baths, and the internal use 
of the same remedies, are stated to have been decidedly service- 
able. Others have advised the large use of bark and wine, 
which seems, however, rather calculated to be preventives, or tc 
fulfil the third indication ; yet wine may be employed rather as 
nourishment, since in severe cases little else can be taken. 
Electricity seems too hazardous a remedy to be tried in a general 
aifsotion, especially in the muscles of respiration ; but if confined 
to the jaw it may be useful in a mild form." — Hooper's Dic- 
tionary. 

SPRINGHALT. 

This peculiar spasmodic affection of muscles in the hind ex- 
tremities is not so common among American horses as it is 
among the French and German breeds. It is an affection over 
which the veterinary surgeon, armed with the whole materia 
medica, has very little power ; fur, in the nervous system first 
originates the cause, which subsequently gives rise to the peculiar 
gait termed springhalt ; and the practitioners of all creeds have 
acknowledged their inability to direct medicine to the nervous 
structure, even after they have secured its digestion in the 
6tomach. To introduce medicinal agents into the lr.tter is an 
easy matter, but to make thein reach that wonderful and delicate 
organized substance, the brain, and its nervous filaments, is another 
affair. These remarks, however, apply to cases of springhalt 
depending on some lesion of nervous filament, pressure, or atro- 
phy of the nerves of nutrition. Minor derangements, resulting 
in spasmodic action, may be relieved, by removing tbe cause or 
tLe morbid habit which induces them. To do this, oui treatment 
must be general ; that is, we must restore healthy action to the 
whole animal structure, and remove obstructions wherever they 
exist. 

Before alluding to the treatment, we shall introduce to the 
reader's attention a selection from Mr. Percivall's lectures, de- 
livered some thirty-live years ago; and, if the reader will com- 
pare thai author's views with those of the surgeons of the preseni 
nay, he will find that they have nothing new to offer. 

The distinguished lecturer on veteiinary science remarks. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 201 

'"' We need give no description of the action or peculiar gait of a 
horse said to have springhalt : the greatest novice easily detects 
't, and seldom fails to make objections to purchase an animal 
thus affected. Mr. Feron, one of the few writers who have no- 
ticed springhalt, says, ' I am convinced, however, by long experi 
ence and observation, that springhalt, as it is called, is no disease, 
therefore can require no remedy.' And in another place, l In- 
deed, in Spain, France, and Germany, it is esteemed extremely 
graceful in their riding schools, or manege, particularly when 
there is a springhalt it: both hind legs.' This writer has, however, 
admitted it to be a disease, to the full scope of the word, in the 
very outset of his description, by defining it to be ' an involuntary 
convulsive motion of the muscles, which extend or bend the 
hock.' In some particulars, springhalt bears some affinity to 
what in human medicine is called chorea. We do not mean, 
however, to assert that they are essentially the same disease ; 
much less do we imagine that a similar mode of treatment could 
have any good effect ; all we wish to infer by such an analogy is, 
that they are both spasmodic or convulsive diseases, in which the 
will has lost more or less of its control over certain voluntary 
muscles. Not unfrequently, when the animal has lifted his hind 
leg from the ground, which is always done with a convulsive 
twitch, the fetlock nearly approaches the belly, and, by some 
other remarkable irregularities in its action, before the foot can 
be replaced upon the ground, (which it seldom is in the most 
advantageous position,) displays such unnatural movements as to 
convince us that volition has but little power over it during its 
suspension. Sometimes this irregular action is confined to one 
leg, but we believe that it is more commonly seen in both. It is 
seldom or never removed. 

" Such writers as offer any opinion of its nature suppose it to 
be a muscular affection, mistaking, we conceive, the effect for the 
cause. We choose rather to refer its seat to the spinal marrow, 
or to the nervous trunks passing between it and the affected 
muscles ; an opinion we were first led to adopt, from having ob- 
served a broken-backed horse exhibit all the characteristic signs 
of springhalt, which in this case was clearly only an accompany. 
iiig symptom of the former disease. It was stated in the fore- 



2i02 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

going part of this lecture, that section or compression of the 
spinal marrow paralyzed muscles, and that irritation of it con- 
vulsed them. Now, we know that many cases of broken back 
terminate in palsy ; and, if this be true, why should not others 
be productive of springhalt — since the one arises from compres- 
sion, while the other is merely the result of irritation ? It is net, 
however, necessary that a broken back be present ; for any other 
cause of irritation, we apprehend, would induce this disease. 
Horses are very subject to injuries of the loins — much more so 
than we seem to be aware of — from being suddenly stopped o' 
turned, or from being overweighted about those parts ; accidents 
that arr- but too seldom detected, since they may not be severe 
enough to constitute broken back, though they may so far disturb 
the nervous functions as to cause springhalt. Should the injury, 
or the consequences of it, be confined to one side, then only one 
column of the marrow will be affected, and but one leg con- 
vulsed : the nature and extent of disease in it will perhaps de- 
termine the degree of springhalt. 

"Such is our theory of a disease whose nature, we believe, has 
up to this time remained unexplained ; whether we have taken 
a correct view of it, experiment and special attention to these 
cases in future can alone decide. We have long had it in con- 
templation to attempt to induce springhalt by artificial means ; 
and we intend, as soon as an opportunity presents itself, to insti- 
tute some experiments for this purpose. 

" We so seldom know any thing of the origin and progress ol 
these cases, and, even if we did, they have generally endured so 
long, that it would be labor lost to treat them. Should, however, 
a recent ease presBnt itself, in a horse of value enough to render 
his recovery an object of consideration, we may pursue eucb 
m::ans as have been recommended in the equally hopeless one 
of broken back." 

Regarding the Treatment. — It will be proper, when the attack 
Is sudden, to let the horse rest ; for, in a sudden attack, we might 
naturally suspect that some irjury, either by blow or strain, had 
been done to the nerves of voluntary motion : in that case, cold 
•vater bandages, (around the. body,) rest, light diet, nauseating 
u'edicines, with an occasional light dose of cathartic medicine, t< 



THE MJDEKN HORSE DOCTOR. 20* 

clear out the bowels, will be indicated. Fomentations^ ligb, 
frictions with antispasmodic liniment, and the vapor bath, ma)' 
assist materially in the recovery of the patient. 

In chronic cases of long standing, all hopes of recovery must 
be abandoned : should the subject, however, be k a state of de- 
bility, the general-health may be improved, and the apine should 
bo daily rubbed with embrocations calculated to restore nervous 
energy ; in this view, we recommend the following embrocation 
for springhalt ■ — 

Linseed oil, . . 1 pint, 

Spirits of hartshorn, 2 ounces, 

Fine mustard, £ ounce. 

The medicine to consist of 

Powdered goldenseal. ■) 

Cream of S?' f ■ of each 1 ounce, 

Charcoal, J 

Assafuctida, £ ounce. 

Mix ; divide into eight parts ; one to be given morning and 
evening, in the food. 



HYSTERIA IN MARES. 

Hysteria is derived from a Greek noun, signifying the womb : 
the disease is of a nervous and spasmodic character, and is sup- 
posed to arise from derangement in the organs of generation. In 
the human subject, plethora and suppression of '.he menses are 
assigned as the chief causes of this affection ; yet these conditions, 
probably, had another antecedent, which is quite common among 
various species, viz., dyspepsia ; for we know that there is a lia 
bility of two or several organs to be affected in succession by a 
disease commencing in one of them : the stomach therefore, and 
uterus, which are conjoined in the performance of special functions, 
— nutrition and reproduction, — although having no direct ana- 
tomical connection, are very apt to display morbid sympathies, 
commencing in one and ending in the other: this is accomplished 
through the nervous connections between distant parts. 

From what the author has been able to observe and glean, it is 
his opinion that hysteria occurs most frequently among virgin 
rrares, after the age of puberty ; and in such as have had a foal 



204 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 




F(ETTTS 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 20/* 

and afterwards deprived of sexual intercourse. The disease is 
more apt to make its appearance about the menstrual period * 
than any other; at such times the mare should be fed light, and 
excused from every sort of active work ; perhaps a faline aperient 

* The following communication on menstruation in maret: has been receive! 
by ihe author, from Dr. C. II. Cleaveland : — 

" Probably all know that mares of the proper age, and at certain seasons 
of the year, menstruate, or, in other words, have uneasy turns, get ' foolish, 
us they say in Illinois ; and that, at such times, they seem unwilling to perforrt. 
their usual task, either as travellers or as draught horses; that they se«m fret 
ful, and often ill tempered, vicious, spiteful, and frequently get a most thorough 
v hipping, because their masters also get 'foolish.' 

'•Now, the simple fact is, that the mare knows more than her master in 
regard to her then condition, and she is trying to drive into his foolish, noddla 
that, on such days, she should be left quiet, and be subject to no labor beyond 
the most gentle exercise. 

" If the reason why this course should be pursued, in preference to the hard 
work and the whipping which your mare has had bestowed upon her at such 
times, is not now plain and satisfactory to you, most sapient reader, just inquire 
of any old matron within the circle of your acquaintance, and she will tell you 
that I am correct, but perhaps 'without a why or wherefore.' 

"The reproductive organs, in all animals, are intimately connected with the 
nervous system, and of course exert a vast influence over not only the nerves, 
but also the entire body, mind, and disposition; and when those organs arf 
deranged or diseased, the entire animal economy must suffer, aad be rendered 
in a greater or less degree unfitted to perform its usual labors. In the female, 
these organs exercise a still more powerful influence upon the other parts of the 
system than in the male; and as they are liable to periodical derangements 01 
excitements, it becomes obviously necessary to be strictly cautious not to tax 
the animal's powers of endurance at those periods. 

"Mares that have been ridden under the saddle, or driven in harness, during 
their periods of heat, and have performed no more than their usual amount ol 
labor, ore frequently discovered to be covered with perspiration across the loins, 
while all other parts of the surface are cool and dry ; and the hostlers will say 
that they have been unable to nib those moist spots dry, even after the lapse 
ot many hours; and the next day the marc is observed to drag her hind leg;t 
after hei, almost as though her back were broken. Indeed, her back is lamo. 
weak, and painful. She urinates with difficulty, and there is evident inflam 
(nation of the kidneys, the ovaries, and the uterus. 

" From slight injuries of this class mares will readily recover ; but if they are 
or too frequent repetition, or the injury be of too grave a character, the chances 
are, that the animal will be unable ever after to perform well, and will soon 
become nervous, irritable, and weak, and will be passed from jockey to jockey 
until she dies ; a martyr not to her own 'foolishness,' — for her waywardness at 
those times are wise admonitions to her master, — but to the folly of those wnt 
unit not le:irn to understand nature, because ' they know all abru their norses, 
und do 'tot wish to be instructed by any book doctor." 
18 



206 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

may be of some use in correcting any existing morbid habit of 
body. When the disease occurs in mares that have once foaled, 
it may be confounded with hysteritis, (inflammation of the womb.) 
In order, therefore, that the reader shall be able to draw a distinct 
line between the two diseases, we inform him that hysteritis gen- 
erally occurs a few days after delivery, or abortion ; and on 
examining the vagina, it appears augmented in bulk; its lining 
membrane redder than usual, and the anus free from those vio- 
lent twitchings and loss of motor power which are present in 
hysteria. 

Symptoms of Hysteria. — A mare during the menstrual period, 
or perhaps a few days subsequent, will be seized with a paroxysm 
resembling a fit ; although there is no cerebral apoplexy nor 
stertorous breathing, (symptoms of cerebral disease,) and lies or 
falls down, and while the paroxysm lasts is unable to get up again : 
during this brief period the pulse is accelerated ; respirations 
rapid ; the flanks are bedewed with moisture ; there is a peculiar 
rigidity of the muscles of locomotion, attended with paralysis of 
the hind limbs : as the paroxysm declines, the use of the limbs 
is gradually restored ; the animal becomes more calm ; the pulse 
lessens in volume and beats ; the respirations become more nat- 
ural. At this stage, the owner of the mare may observe that she 
is not herself, (as the saying is,) being excessively nervous and 
irritable, and is excited by the least noise : the mare, however, 
gradually becomes calm, and then is suddenly seized with another 
paroxysm ; or they may follow each other in rapid succession, in 
which case death often puts an end to the scene, or it results in 
ceiebral disease. Veterinary Surgeon Haycock remarks, that 
out of three mares attacked with hysteria, two of them every now 
and then strained violently, and ejected, per vaginam, excessive 
quantities of coffee-colored urine, which consisted principally of 
bbod : this, as far as the author's observation goes, has not been 
confirmed. Our observations, however, have only extended over 
a few cases ; in which we noticed that the animals passed neither 
dung nor urine until they arose, and then the urine was but 
slightly colored. 

Treatment. — It is useless to give medicine wliile the patient is 
ui a paroxysm ; all that ;an be done is to give the animal, whilo 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 201 

down, an injection of warm water and salt, to which add an ounce 
cr two of tincture of assafcetida ; let the external surface be well 
rubbed with wisps of coarse straw ; as soon as the fit is over, givfl 
a drench of 

Powdered assafcetida, .... 2 drachms, 

Tincture of valerian, .... 1 ounce, 

Sirup of garlic, . .... 2 ounces, 

Thin gruel, 1 pint. 

If the animal be not relieved in the course of six hours, repeat 
the dose, and clear out the bowels with a dose of glauber salts, to 
which add a small quantity of ginger. 

HYSTEEXTIS. — (Inflammation of the Womb.) 

The causes of inflammation in the womb are, difficult and pro* 
tracted labor, abortion, and retention of placenta or foetal 
envelopes. Mares most subject to this disease, as well as prema- 
ture expulsion of the foetus, are the plethoric ; it generally comes 
on a few days after labor, and, unless early arrested, will terminate 
fatally. The objects in treating this disease are, to contract the 
womb, (encircle the loins with cold water bandages,) and palliate 
urgent symptoms ; keep the animal on gruel, and give a pint of 
bethwort tea every four hours ; attend to the state of the bowels ; 
if they are torpid, give a pint of olive oil, and follow it up with 
flaxseed tea. Should the disease be connected with vaginitis* 
(inflammation of the vagina,) the treatment is the iame, with the 
addition of cold water to the pudendum. 



FEVER IN HORSES. 



Fever should not always be treated as disease; for, in a great 
majority of cases it is only symptomatic of some local or general 
derangement. 

Fever is the same in its essential character under all circum- 
stances and forms w hich it exhibits. The different " grades" a3 
they are termed, are but v<*rieties of the <?ame condition, produced 



208 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

by variations in the prevailing cause, or regulated by the amount 
of vital power in each given case, and are therefore an index 
pointing to the progress of the disease, operating to ward off the 
malady and restore health. An eminent physician has said, 
" Our indications of cure and modes of treatment are to be learned 
from those manifestations of the vital operations uniformly wit- 
nessed in the febrile state. If fever marks the action of the 
healing power of nature, which we must imitate to be successful, 
why should we not consult the febrile phenomena for our rule of 
action? Now, what are the indications of cure which we derm: 
from this source ? In other words, what are the results which 
nature designs to accomplish through the instrumentality of fever? 
They are an equilibrium of the circulation, a properly-propor- 
tioned action of all the organs, and an increased depuration of the 
system, principally by the excrementitious outlets." 

Suppose a horse shall be suffering from a form of disease known 
as gastro-intestinal, occasioned by an accumulation of partly- 
digested food within the stomach ; the mass acts as an irritant, — 
an exciting cause, — and the result is inflammation, (local fever ;) 
then general excitement, or sympathetic action, which is manifest- 
ed by increase in number and volume of pulse, hurried respira- 
tion, superficial heat, &e. Now, it is evident that the inflam- 
mation — local fever — is not confined to the stomach alone, but 
becomes general, as we have just said, through the sympathetic 
relations. The effect of this general abnormal condition is to 
mitigate the force of the disease on the primary tissue, or tissues, 
to shift the weight of the burden, and so apportion it to the sev> 
era! parts of the system, as to lessen its intensity. 

The heat at the external surface shows that the circulation is 
active. " Without heat there is no vitality in the system," and 
without blood there is no heat. Then the blood must be sent to 
the surface for the purpose of relieving the internal organ, and 
therefore fever must, under some circumstances, be considered 
favorable to the cure of disease. Hence the reader will perceive 
that tin; practitioner whose creed is, "The more fever the more 
bloodletting," is one of the greatest opponents nature has to deal 
with, and it is no wonder that SO many animals are said to die of 
fever: it is wo<t probable, however, that many die from the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR 201 

fcreatnient. The practice of indiscriminate drenching, under the 
circumstances, with salts and aloes, may sometimes prove just as 
destructive as the injudicious use of the lancet; for purgatives of 
this character act on the alimentary surfaces as mechanical irri 
tants, and then and there set up a pathological action, to counter- 
act which nature recalls her forces from the external surface, and 
employs them in the vicinity of parts where they were not wanted, 
until man's unwise interference conflicted with the well-planned 
arrangement ; in short, made nature turn a somerset. When the 
increased action and heat are manifested on the surface, does it 
not prove that the different organs are acting harmoniously in 
self-defence ? Is not this same action manifested through the 
same channels in a state of health ? And if morbific materials 
are present in the system, and are the cause of fever, will the 
mode of evacuation be different from that of health? Certainly 
not. Hence the marked tendency of fever to evacuation by the 
skin in profuse perspiration, from the nostrils in the form of 
catarrh, by the bowels as in diarrhoea, and lastly, by abscess. 
Therefore the great secret of curing diseases consists in accurately 
observing by what critical evacuations nature casts off whatever 
may be the cause of her infirmities, and in following and assisting 
her agreeably to her indications, for she acts with great regularity. 
When an animal has taken cold, and there is power in the sys- 
tem to keep up a continual warfare against encroachments, the 
disturbance of vital action being unbroken, the fever is called 
pure or persistent. Emanations from animal or vegetable sub- 
stances in a state of decomposition or putrefaction, or the noxious 
miasmata from marshy lands, if concentrated, and not sufficiently 
diluted with atmospheric air, enter into the system, and produce 
a specific effect. In order to dethrone the intruder, who keeps 
up a system of aggression from one tissue to another, the vital 
power arrays her artillery, in good earnest, to resist the invading 
fo»? ; and if furnished with the munitions of war in the form of 
Banative agents, she generally conquers the enemy, and dictates 
her own terms. While the forces are equally balanced, which 
may be known by a high grade of vital action, it is also called 
unbroken or pure fever. The powers of the system may becomo 
exhausted by efforts at relief, and the fever will be periodically 
18* 



210 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

reduced; this form of fever is called remittent. By remittent 
fever is to be understood that modification of vital action which 
rests or abates, but does not go entirely off before a fresh attack 
ensues. It is evident in this case, also, that nature is busily en 
gaged in the work of establishing her empire ; but being more 
exhausted, she occasionally rests from her labors. It would be 
as absurd to expect that the most accurate definition of fever in 
one animal would correspond in all its details with another case, 
as to expect all animals to be alike. There are many names 
given to fevers ; for example, we have milk or puerperal fever, 
symptomatic, typhus, inflammatory, &c. Veterinary Surgeon 
Percivall, in an article on fever, says, " We have no more reason 

— not near so much — to give fever a habitation in the abdomen, 
than we have to enthrone it in the head ; but it would appear 
from the full range of observation, that no part of the body can 
be said to be unsusceptible of inflammation, (local fever,) though, 
at the same time, no organ is invariably or exclusively affected." 

From this we learn that disease always attacks the weakes* 
organs. The same author continues, " All I wish to contend for 
is, that both idiopathic and symptomatic fevers exhibit the same 
form, character, species, and require the same general means of 
cure ; and that, were it not for the local affection, it would be 
difficult or impossible to distinguish between the one or the 
other." 

Dr. "White, V. S., says, " Some practitioners do not admit the 
existence of fever in the horse as a primary disorder, [they are 
sensible men,] but consider it as a symptom dependent on inter- 
nal disease. Then why not attend to the internal disease, instead 
of attempting to cure the fever? It would be a very difficult task 
for us to convince mankind generally that fever does not require to 
be treated as the real enemy ; for fevers are very fashionable dis- 
eases, and it is a very easy matter to convince a man that his horse 
has ' got a fever,' and he is always willing to pay for its treatment." 

Mr. Blaine, V. S., refers only to three different kinds of fevei 

— the common or simple fever, symptomatic fever, and malignant 
epidemic fever. Mr. White, V. S., thus refers to fever: "The 
fevers of horses (for it is of little importance whether we call 
them fevers or inflammation) are generally connected with 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCIOR. 211 

inflammation either of the mucous or serous membranes, or both 
in other words, fever may be of the catarrhal kind, as in the 
epidemic catarrh, or the violent influenzas which sometimes pre- 
vail in the spring or beginning of summer. Fever may affect 
the mucous surface of the stomach and bowels, when it causea 
great languor and debility." 

The day is not far distant, when a practitioner will as soon 
think of confining his treatment to scraping off a patient's coated 
tongue, when suffering from a bilious attack, as to think of treating 
the febrile manifestations of a local disease in the horse, in view 
cf curing the latter. 

Our own definition of fever is, that it is a symptom of disease 
arising in consequence of sympathy of the system with disease in 
some particular part. Pleurisy, for example, consists in inflam- 
mation of the serous membranes within the thorax ; and at the 
commencement, and indeed during the various phases of the 
malady, fever may be present, manifesting itself in the usual 
manner ; but are we to treat the fever, the mere manifestation of 
the disease — pleurisy? or shall we not find it more in accord- 
ance with the principles of reason to endeavor to cure the 
latter? Fever is present in all cases of an inflammatory charac- 
ter ; therefore we would warn our readers not to let fever in the 
horse so engross their attention as to overlook the real malady. 
Next to inflammation, fever is the great scarecrow of the em- 
pyric, when, in fact, there is nothing very alarming about the 
fever itself ; yet it leads us into the by-paths of ignorance ; for 
if there were not previous disease, there could be no fever, so that 
he who merely treats fevei is playing the part of mountebank to 
the disease then present. A few illustrations will serve to ex- 
plain : A man, for example, manifests paroxysms of sold, hot, 
and sweating stages ; these phenomena may prevail in different 
degrees, and their mode of succession vary ; but if the three differ- 
ci t stages are evident, the case is called intermittent fever. Now 
" dissections of those who have died of intermittent fever show 
a morbid state of many of the viscera of the thorax and abdo- 
men ; but the liver, and organs concerned in the formation of 
bile, as likewise the mesentery, are those which are usually most 
ifFected." — Hooper. Why, then, should men trifle with the lives 



212 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOB. 

of their patients in curing fevers of this type, when such iinpor 
tant organs as the above are the primary ones involved ? Tbe*i 
again, in cases of typhoid fever, post mortem examinations re- 
veal inflammation of the brain and viscera, and more particu- 
larly of the stomach, intestines, and Peyers glands. Is it not 
reasonable, then, for us to suppose that fevers — the febrile 
symptoms — appear subsequently to the above diseases? that 
they develope them in so slow and insidious a manner as not 
to be noticed until what men are pleased to denominate fevei 
sets in ; this being, at that stage of the disease, the most marked 
symptom ; and not having the privilege of inspecting the patient's 
internal organization, and of course being in the dark as to what 
is going on there, we jump at tbe conclusion that the patient has 
some sort of a fever, and name it according to its type and in- 
tensity. It is then treated secundum artem. 

A horse may all at once show signs of febrile phenomena ; but 
who is so wise as to be able to demonstrate that an error in ^vn- 
eral management had not previously deranged the equilibrium :>f 
the vital forces ere the first symptom of fever appeared ? So 
in the case of a cow, the subject of puerperal fever : she may 
have been for months in a state of plethora, (an abnormal con- 
dition,) which is generally the case with such animals; the dis- 
ease perhaps has been in a state of incubation for some time, but 
at length it arrives at a stage when the vital forces succumb — a 
general febrile state speedily follows — hence the fever is not the 
real malady. Our limits will not admit of further discussion 
under this head, other than to remark, that this as the age of 
reason, — " godlike reason," — and the world should be dotted 
over with medical investigators, who are willing to solve tha 
problems of disease and health according to the principles of 
reason, disregarding the stereotyped conclusions of by-gone days 

Three forms of fever occurring in the horse are alluded to by 
the author of Hippopathology. 1st. Common fever; 2d. Idio- 
pathic ; and, 3d. Symptomatic. The first is but a general dif- 
fuse inflammation. The second arises without any apparent 
local injury; and the third from some local cause or irritation. 
The above distinguished author, however, is evidently aiming t%t 
perfection, for he has classed these three under the signification 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 213 

di' "one common kind;" and he also alludes to two of a kind 
chut are uncommon, which he names specific, arising from some 
special, mysterious, or unknown cause. — See Hippopathology^ 
vol. i. p. 149. 

Treatment of Fever. — Under the iron heel of medical despot- 
ism, we are bound to " arrest its progress, and to mitigate its 
violence." But suppose we do. Are our patients any better 
\>ff? The records of the past will show. A rational system of 
»eterinary medicine contemplates, in the treatment of febrile 
Fymptoms, nothing more than a kind of expectancy. If the patient 
D3 in the cold stage, administer warm diffusible stimulants and 
diaphoretics, aided by warmth and moisture externally ; friction 
on the extremities, and, if necessary, stimulating applications to 
the chest and extremities. In the hot stage, and when the super- 
ficial heat of the body is great, cooling drinks are indicated 
water, acidulated with cream of tartar, makes a good febrifuge. 
The patient may be occasionally sponged with weak saleratus 
water. The alkali has a beneficial effect on the cutaneous vessels, 
while the water lessens the temperature of the body. No treat- 
ment, however, can be of any rational use, unless it contemplates 
a restoration of the healthy equilibrium of the whole system. 
Let the doctor treat the disease, and a good, attentive groom 
can manage the fever. 

SIMPLE SCARLET FEVER. — (Scarlatinal 

Mr. Percivall, in referring to scarlatina, says, the first ac- 
count of it was published by himself in the Veterinarian for 
1834. "This since has received such confirmation from other 
quarters as to leave no doubt in my mind that, rare as the malady 
uoknowledgedly is, and hitherto undescribed as it has remained, it 
h ill one day find a place in our established veterinary nosology." 

It is difficult to say to what extent scarlatina prevails in this 
country, for there are very few persons qualified to define such & 
disease ; in fact, the majority of men do not know that such an 
affection ever manifests itself in horses. From the fact however, 
that we have seen two cases within the past four years occurring 
in this city, we are led to suppose that it may, s,t certain seasons, 
prevail to some extent. 



214 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

The symptoms are very minutely defined in the following arti* 
rle by Surgeon Haycock : — 

" Simple Scarlatina. — This form of the disease usually ap- 
pears in association with epidemic catarrh : it seldom, or, perhaps, 
never manifests itself simultaneously with epidemic catarrh, but 
usually on the third or fourth, and even as late as the sixth day 
from the commencement of the former. The animal affected with 
catarrh will, perhaps, be fed and left at night in what may be con- 
sidered a fair way of recovery ; but when the attendant enters the 
stable on the morning following, the patient may be found affected 
in a very peculiar manner ; the hair about the neck, the fore and 
hind limbs, will be elevated in blotches, while the limbs themselves 
will be found in a swollen condition. The blotchy elevations, 
generally speaking, are not large, but they are exceedingly char- 
acteristic of the malady. If the hand be pressed lightly over 
them, scarcely any corresponding elevations can be found upon 
the skin beneath. The mucous membrane of the nose will have 
upon it a few scarlet spots of variable size ; the pulse, in some 
instances, will be increased in action considerably, while in oth- 
ers, even when the disease appears most severe, not so much. 
If the epidemic catarrh, or the disease under which the patient 
labors, be attended with soreness of throat, that soreness may be- 
come greatly increased, or it may not. Sometimes the blotchy 
elevations are confined to the hind limbs, and the scarlet spots 
to the membrane of one nostril, while in other cases all these 
symptoms are present, but in such a very mild degree as not to 
excite the attention of any one but a closely observing prac- 
titioner. If, at this stage of the disease, the animal be judicious- 
ly treated, and the stable be dry and comfortable, the whole may 
pass off in a few days without any further mischief ensuing ; 
but if the treatment be improper, the stable cold and damp, and 
\he animal otherwise unfavorably circumstanced, it is probable 
that the disease will become more virulent, and either assume 
the malignant form, or pass into what is called ' purpura hae- 
morrhagica,' and the life of the animal, in either state, become 
greatly endangered." 

Treatment. — This is one among the manv diseases w hich are 
considered self -limited ; that is, they will run a regular course 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 213 

up to a certain intensity, and then, all things being favorable as 
regards the patient's previous health, management, &c, the un- 
favorable symptoms subside gradually, and the subject conva- 
lesces into a normal condition. Some medical treatment, advice 
at least, may be needed. A veterinary surgeon should be con- 
sulted if possible ; he may do nothing by way of medical treat- 
ment, but his advice will prove invaluable, and, in the end, of 
great pecuniary advantage to the patient's master. The treat- 
ment of small-pox or scarlet fever occurring in human subjects 
in tbe London hospitals is a very simple affair to what it was a 
few years ago, and, in consequence, those maladies are less fatal 
So with reference to scarlatina in the horse — the medicines, if 
any are indicated, must be few and simple. The owner of the 
horse cannot err in carrying out a proper system of hygiene, so 
Btrictly observed in well-conducted hospitals. As a febrifuge, 
water acidulated with cream of tartar is the best : this may be 
given at discretion ; it allays inflammatory symptoms, cools the 
thirst, promotes the secretions and excretions ; in short, is just 
the drink for a fever patient. 

A kind of sloppy diet may at first be used, composed of 
scalded fine feed, &c. ; a small quantity of sweet hay will be 
required, to keep the stomach employed, and to distend it to a 
healthy capacity; yet, in the early stages of this disease, we need 
not be very solicitous about the quantity of food necessary ; for 
if we should half starve the parent just at thi3 time, it is of little 
importance, provided he has an abundance of good water and 
sloppy gruel to drink. "When the disease has so far advanced 
as to exhaust the patient's strength, then it is time for us to 
loosen the string of the meal bag. 

If the bowels become constipated, at any stage during tb.9 
progress of this affection, a dose of sulphur and cream of tartar 
one ounce of the former, and half an ounce of the latter) may 
with perfect safety be given, and also repeated, if necessary. It 
is best to give the medicine in the form of drench. The after 
treatment depends altogether on circumstances ; if the patient 
has had a careful nurse during his sickness, he may Dot require 
any medicine. 



21 G THF- MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



MALIGNANT SCARLET FEVER. 

Malignant scarlet fever is a sequel to the preceding disease, 
and may be said to commence where the other terminates : it is 
difficult, however, to determine the exact line of demarcation 
where one ends and the other commences; yet, when the patient 
has passed through the usual probation of simple scarlatina, and, 
instead of appearing better, grows worse, we may reasonably 
suspect that the disease will terminate in the above form. The 
author's experience is so limited as regards the symptoms of this 
malady, that he prefers to give those detailed by Surgeon Hay- 
cock, who is considered good authority. 

Symptoms of Malignant Scarlet Fever. — " The patient for 
some days may have manifested what is usually considered to 
be influenza, or epidemic catarrh, the symptoms of which will, 
for the most part, consist of sore throat of an obstinate nature, 
with fever more or less severe, with cough, loss of appetite, dis- 
charge of purulent matter from the nostrils, and general debility : 
when, suddenly, the whole changes ; the limbs begin to swell, 
which swelling presents either an uneven surface, (occupying the 
whole of the limbs,) or it appears in lumps, or masses, which are 
both large and numerous, also hot, hard, and painful, while those 
portions of the skin which are free from such swelling present 
the blotchy elevations so common to the simple form of scarlatina. 
The membrane of the nose becomes, also, covered with large-sized 
spots of an intense scarlet color, while from the nostrils is dis- 
charged a mixture of blood, purulent matter, and serum. At 
this stage, the soreness of the throat becomes excessive, accom- 
panied, of course, with a corresponding degree of diffi- ulty in 
swallowing ; the cough also becomes worse, and of a suffocating 
character. The pulse increases in number, reaching, at times, 
90, or e; an 100, beats per minute, and is always of a weak or 
feeble character. The swollen limbs are excessively tender, and 
if the patient be left alone, he will stand for hours nailed, as it 
were, to one place and in one position ; it is only with the great- 
est ditliculiy that he can be made to move at all. As the disease 
proceeds, or assumes more intensity, large blisters or vesicle* 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 217 

appear upon the limbs, particularly around the joints . these 
vehicles burst, and discharge a bright amber-colored fluid, which 
is very corrosive in its effects on the adjoining skin. In other 
oases again, some extreme portion of the organism, such as the 
ears, for example, will suddenly present a blanched appearance, 
the skin of these organs will shrink, and become hard and dry, 
as though frozen, and in the course of a day or two these 
blanched portions snap off, leaving a raw surface, which speedily 
suppurates. The appetite entirely disappears, and the secretion 
from the bowels becomes checked, and what is denominated con- 
ttipation ensues ; the urine is scanty, and of a thick, yellow, or 
brown color. In the course of twenty or twenty-four hours from 
the commencement, (and in many cases even less,) the scarlet 
spots on the membrane of the nose enlarge and pass into the 
purple-colored patches, and these patches slough, and leave a 
raw surface, from which is secreted an abundance of purulent 
matter ; at the same time, a similar sloughing goes on around 
the joints, where the blisters or vesicles first appeared. If the 
animal does well, the fever will generally abate (in the milder 
slates at least) about the fourth or fifth day from the commence- 
ment of the more acute stage, while in the more malignant kinds 
it is seldom that a change for the better occurs before the seventh 
or eighth day." 

Treatment. — The medicines must be of a stimulating, auti- 
srptic, and laxative character — stimulants, of a permanent char- 
acter, to arouse vital action, and carry on the various functions 
of the body ; antiseptics, to arrest decomposition, and ward off 
the typhoid state ; laxatives, to carry off the morbid products, 
as fast as they accumulate within the dige.*ive surface. The 
dLease is now supposed to have invaded all the tissues to a 
greater or less extent, and requires to be promptly met wilh 
medicines of this description, aided by a nutritious diet eanily 
digested, such as coarse oatmeal, dry, or in the form of thick 
gruel , equal parts of flour and fine feed may also be used in 
this view, with an allowance of boiled roots — carrots, potatoes, 
parsnips, or beets. Every means that the urgency of the case 
demunds must be put in force to make the animal as comfortable 
as possible. The rectum must be occasionally emptied, bv means 
19 



^18 THE MODERN HORSE DOCT >R. 

of injections; and if the throat be sore, or, from any othe* 
cause, the patient cannot swallow sufficient food to support the 
vital forces, his strength may be kept up by nourishing enema — > 
beef tea, flour gruel, &c. ; at all events, a supply of hay tea, 
thickened with some farinaceous substance, ought to be kept in 
the ( rib ; it is a tempting delicacy to sick horses, and they often 
give it the preference to all other kinds. 

The following compound is considered the best, in view of 
fulfilling the indications just alluded to : — 

Powdered capsicum, 1 drachm, 

" charcoal, £ ounce, 

" cubebs, 2 drachms, 

Sulphur, 6 drachms. 

To be given at a dose. How this shall be given is not for the 
author to say ; that will depend on circumstances. The throat 
may be sore ; in that case it will not be prudent to drench the 
patient; hence it must be introduced into the stomach along 
with the food. The patient may have no disposition to eat ; if 
so, we must give him medicines of less bulk, which, through 
patience and care, we may at last succeed in getting down the 
throat. Our remedy then is brandy and salt, in wine-glass 
doses, 0-* 

Tincture of capsicum, .... 1 ounce, 

Linseed oil, 4 ounces, 

Fir balsam, 1 ounce. 

In the event of the patient not swallowing the whole of this, it 
will have the effect of lessening the pain within the throat, even 
should it only come in contact with the mucous surfaces. Let 
the medicines be given in broken doses, at intervals of a few 
minutes ; in this way we may succeed, even should the throat bo 
Bore. 

The blotches over the body should be sponged daily with 
alkaline wash — weak ley of wood ashes, or saleratus water. 
So soon as abscesses appear, they nre tc be moistened with 

Pvroligneous acid, .... 4 ounces, 
Water, 1 p : ut. 

The case will very soon be decided ; the patient will either 
grow worse, or show symptoms of amendment ; if he should, 
however, appear better, the above treatment, with the addition 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 215 

of some tonic medicine, such as gentian or goldenseal, ma\ 
gradually complete the cure. 

TYPHUS FEVER. 

Disease of the above type is more frequent in the "Western 
than in the Eastern States, and more commonly occurs among 
cattle than horses : the main feaiures of it consist in a tendency 
lo rapid putrescence of the solids and fluids, and great prostra- 
tion : it is generally complicated with disease of the lungs or 
intestines. Its diagnostic symptoms are, pulse quick, soft, and 
feeble ; tongue coated with a yellow-brown fur on its centre ; ita 
margins are of a light-red color, and cracks or fissures are occa- 
sionally observed. The teeth have lost their natural, and are 
now of a dark brown color ; the gums are red, and discharge an 
ichorous fluid ; the breath is very offensive ; the color of the 
nasal membranes almost resembles that of the tongue ; yet they 
more frequently present symptoms of pulmonary congestion, hav- 
ing, however, a dry appearance, with dark, reddened patches. 
The eyes are suffused, and the countenance has an expression 
)f turgidity. If typhus is complicated with pulmonary disease, 
the respirations are hurried and the bowels sluggish. When 
connected with intestinal disease, the dung is slimy, black, and 
fetid ; pressure in the abdominal region elicits signs of pain. 
There is also great thirst and loss of appetite. On carefully 
passing the hand over the patient's body, we discover a morbid 
heat, and perhaps some elevations or eruptions. These are the 
diagnostic symptoms ; others, common to various diseases of a 
low febrile type, are present, varying in duration and intensity, 
according to the nature of the case. Post mortem examinations 
show no other constant pathological changes that can be depended 
on ; so that the external signs appear of more value to the sur- 
geon than the internal. Its last stages are marked by a putrid 
type ; mortification puts an end to the patient's sufferings. We 
consider the disease, at a certain stage, both contagious and in- 
fectious. (For treatment, see Malignant Scarlet Fever.) Tha 
prophylactic means are, ventilation, cleanliness, nutritious diet, 
and fumigation. 



220 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



PUTRID FEVER. 

This disease is somewhat rare in this section of the United 
States, but sometimes prevails to an alarming extent in the South- 
Western. The following communication was lately received by 
the author from a veterinary surgeon of Pennsylvania ■ — 

" Buckingham, November 26, 1853. 

u Respected Friend : Agreeable to promise, I will now 
endeavor to give you some of the causes, symptoms, diagnoses, 
prognoses, and treatment of the disease that has recently beeD 
prevailing, not only with your horses, but with many others, in 
different sections of Bucks, Montgomery, and New Jersey — 
with horses differently fed, exercised, stabled, and groomed, as is 
common to arise from the different avocations and peculiar views 
of their different owners. I have never attributed the disease 
to any kind of feed, exercise, stabling, or grooming, particularly; 
but I attribute the remote cause of the disease to atmospheric 
influence, and the proximate cause to debility, however induced. 
This theory of the cause of the disease I will endeavor to give 
you some reasons for. First, the disease has always prevailed 
to a much greater extent in the fall of the year than at any 
other time, when the weather is frequently changing from heat 
to cold, and from cold to heat. 

u A change from cold to heat has a relaxing and debilitating 
effect upon the whole system ; the perspiration flows freely on 
the least exertion, showing great relaxation of the skin ; and 
when the horse is in this relaxed condition, perhaps the weather 
changes suddenly to a cold, damp, north-east wind. This change 
makes a great demand upon the caloric of the system, ci, in 
other words, extracts a great proportion of animal heat, closes 
the pores of the skin, thereby throwing the perspiration back 
upon the internal vital organs, which impedes their free, full, and 
healthy functions — particularly so in the fall of the year, when 
the horse is changing his summer for his winter coat, or what is 
called the moulting. As the moulting is a process extending 
over the whole of the skin, requiring a very considerable expen* 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 22\ 

diture of vital power, which, taken in conjunction with the othei 
causes hinted at above, renders the horse more susceptible 01 
predisposed to diseases of a low grade, such as I am now consid- 
ering, that energy and nervous and vital influence, which should 
6upport the whole frame, are in the moulting season to a great 
degree determined to the skin, and the horse is languid, and un- 
able to bear as much hard work as at other seasons of the year ; 
and if he is pressed beyond his strength, he will be liable to be- 
come seriously ill, and that illness will be, in a great majority of 
eases, of a low, malignant, or typhoid type, in which the sjslr*a 
in never able to react, so as to produce a disease of an inflam- 
matory order. Hence the frequency, at this season of the year, 
of the disease in question, which consists essentially in a great 
•prostration of the living principle. In some attacks of this dis- 
ease, it is so severe that it destroys life in the space of from six 
to twelve hours, and on examination of the cadaver after death, 
there will scarce be the slightest trace of the disease left behind ; 
because the force of the cause of the disease was so powerful 
that it took life at once, as if it had been taken by a blow on the 
head, or as if a large dose of arsenic had been given, whieh 
immediately destroys the power of the system to produce heal 
and nervous energy, and death takes place without any reaction, 
or without leaving any perceptible effects of the poison behind. 
Precisely so is it with this disease when it takes life without re- 
action. But if the attack is not severe enough to destroy life 
under three or four days, there will be some reaction, and traces 
of gangrenous imflammation may be discovered, on dissection, 
to have taken place on the mucous membrane of the windpipe, 
lungs, &c. And again, in a still milder attack, where the horso 
will linger along from a week to two or three weeks, his wkolt 
body becomes one mass of putrefaction, and wholly unfit to Ic 
even cast to the dogs. Such, then, is the malignant nature of 
the disease produced by poisonous agents in the air, acting on 
horses predisposed to receive it. It not unfrequently, when it 
prevails as an epidemic, destroys two thirds of those attacked. 
Bidding defiance to every remedial means, it boldly marches oil 
its course, until its work of destruction is complete, and then it 
Beems as ii occupying tht desolated spot in triumph. 
19* 



222 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

" Symptoms. — The first or premonitory symptoms of putrid 
fever are a peculiar wrangling of the hody and striding of tho 
limbs, as if the horse was conscious of his inability to walk. At 
the same time, there will be some difficulty of swallowing, and 
some thirst ; the horse will appear as if drinking a great deal, 
and will delight to continue at the water a long while, when in 
fact ho s getting little or none down. These symptoms are soon 
followed by extreme muscular debility — a weak and intermitting 
pulse. The horse gets down, is totally unable to rise, or to 
awallow either food or drink ; not from any swelling or obstruc- 
tion in the throat, but from want of strength in the muscles of 
deglutition to perform their functions. He lies on his side, pawc 
with his fore feet, struggles, and seems in great distress ; now 
commences breathing short, rattles in the windpipe, (which is 
full of a substance like lively soap suds, which exudes from the 
mucous surface of the windpipe and bronchial tubes,) coughs so 
as to shake the entire frame, although it is a peculiarly weak, 
ineffectual cough, brings nothing up, nor does it afford any relief. 
From the weakness of the circulation, there will be, at every 
round thereof, more or less of blood deposited in the lungs, till 
they become congested, or filled with blood. This congestion of 
the lungs is often mistaken by inexperienced persons, as well as 
those poor in diagnosis, for primary inflammation of them, and 
the lancet is resorted to, (although the pulse would forbid its use 
if they knew how to consult it,) which hurries on, at a rapid 
rate, the very congestion which they were expecting to relieve, 
by producing still greater debility in the system, which is the sole 
cause of the congested condition which the lungs are frequently 
found in after death. In some cases a great discharge of saliva 
takes place from the mouth ; breath very offensive ; bowels cos- 
tive, and when a discharge does take place from them, it is gen- 
erally covered with a white, slime-like substance, though in some 
instances a purging takes place, but by no means a common 
occurrence ; logs and ears cold ; the heat of the skin is generally 
too low, although in some rare instances it rises to a high degree, 
and is acrid and burning to the touch. The countenance ex- 
presses some anxiety. His eyes preserve their healthy look til) 
near death, wh«»r te;irs nay be seen rolling around in them. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 22S 

LHaynosis. — It may be distinguished from inflammatoiy sore 
nli»>at by the sudden and great prostration of strength ■, by the 
putrid tendency in the system ; by the typhoid type of the fever, 
and low, intermittent pulse, and putrid smell of the breath. There 
is no soreness evinced when the throat and windpipe are pressed 
betvoen the fingers, nor is there any pain manifested iD making 
an effort to swallow, as there is in inflammatory sore throat. 

* Prognosis. — Favorable : The countenance preserving its 
natural state ; the look firm and clear ; respiration not disturbed ; 
pulse but little altered ; but slight difficulty in swallowing ; the 
prostration of strength not great, the horse continuing to feed 
without an increased secretion of saliva. 

" Unfavorable : Extreme anxiety of countenance ; difficult res- 
piration ; great prostration of strength, without the power to 
swallow either food or drink, although they will continue to try 
almost constantly ; copious flow of saliva, of a tenacious, white 
appearance ; increased arterial action, with diminished muscular 
power ; unable to stand but for a short time, and almost constantly 
struggling whilst down, and if turned on his breast, the nose will 
rest on the ground ; he has not strength sufficient to hold it up. 

" Treatment. — In attacks where the prostration of strength is 
not great, give a drachm of camphor and half an ounce of nitre, 
both finely pulverized and dissolved in half a pint of warm water 
and give as a drench every six hours, till you give two doses ; 
then omit one dose, and give one ounce of powdered aloes, and 
half an ounce of capsicum, dissolved in a pint of warm water ; 
drench with it, but never raise the head higher when drenching 
than is unavoidable, taking especial care not to strangle him. In 
six hours after giving the physic, commence with the camphor 
and nitre as before, and give it every six hours, till it has con- 
siderable of a diuretic effect, or till the horse shows symptoms of 
returning health, when three doses in twenty-four hours will be 
sufficient. But if the horse should be losing strength, the nitre 
must be left out, and from + wo to four drachms of capsicum added 
to the camphor in its place, and given every four or six hours. 
Should the physic not operate in twenty-four hours, half the above 
quantity must be given ; it is not proper that severe purging 
should be produced, but sufficiently so to warrant the belief that 
the alimentary canal has been thoroughly cleansed. 



U24 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

" But should he still be losing strength, in taking the capsicun 
and camphor he must have added to them, night and morning, 
from three to four drachms of finery-powdered cascarilla. Injec- 
tions must be used twice a day whilst the bowels are costive, 
composed of half an ounce of castile soap to a quart of warm 
water, and four ounces of epsom salts dissolved in a quart of warm 
water, alternately. The throat must be gargled every two hours, 
v. ith a tea made by pouring half a gallon of boiling water on six 
drachms of capsicum, and when cool add a pint of good vinegar. 
The throat externally must be well rubbed with the following 
mixture three or four times a day : half a pint spirits of harts- 
horn, ditto of turpentine, ditto of camphor, all mixed and kept 
well corked. If the horse is down and unable to get up, he must 
be helped whenever he struggles to get up. 

" I have now given you a short outline of the causes, symp- 
toms, treatment, &c, as you desired me to do. I have not car- 
ried out in detail the different heads alluded to as I could have 
desried, but I trust the hints which I have thrown out will dispel 
some of the doubts and darkness that hang over this disease ; and 
if the prescriptions here given are timely and judiciously applied, 
they will arrest the disease in a number of cases, and stay the 
astonishing waste of property that we so frequently hear of. 
" With respect, I remain your friend, 

"Isaiah Michener, V. S." 



DISEASES OF THE MOUTH. 

SLAVERING. — (Augmented Salivary Secretion.*) 

Slavering horses are frequently met with in farming districts, 
where clover is used as an article cf fodder. There seems to be 
lome peculiar property ahout the flowers of clover which renders 

* Showing the abundance of the Salivary Secretion. — Mr. Charlr* Pickens, a 
veterinary surgeon of Kimholtnn, has taken the trouble to ascertain the amoui I 
n) saliva secrete J by a parotid ^land; he was enabled to make the expejinru'-.i.t 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 226 

them a source of great irritation to the mucous surfaces and sali- 
vary apparatus of the horse. Some horses, however, will partake 
of clover without the least inconvenience ; in fact, they " get used 
to it," as the saying is, and, with the addition of other grain, 
grow fat and sleek. 

Lobelia and tobacco have about the same effect on some green 
horses as clover, always inducing an increased flow of saliva. 
These articles may induce an increased secretion of this fluid in 
two ways : — 

1. By irritation ; the article coming in direct contact with 
highly sensitive secretory surfaces, which always pour out their 
fluids on the application of an irritant, so long as it remains an 
irritant, and provided the parts retain their normal sensibility. 

2. Through the medium of absorbents : thus calomel affects the 
salivary glands, and causes them to secrete and pour forth an 
amount of fluid at times almost incredible. Any irritating body 
placed within the horse's mouth may produce an increased flow 
of saliva. It is the custom among horsemen in Hungary, to place 
on the horse's bit a small piece of corrosive sublimate, or arsenic, 
and very soon he begins to foam at the mouth, which is considered 
a mark of high temper ; and, strange to write, his general ap- 
pearance improves — he gains flesh; the coat lies smooth and 
sleek ; he is all life and ambition. But the day of reckoning 
comes ; the poison accumulates in the system, and the high- 
mettled plethoric steed loses all his artificial qualities, so much 
admired ; his mettle and ambition desert him, his muscles shrink, 
and he soon becomes food for the ravens and other beasts of prey. 
The sharp edges of a worn-down tooth, or a tooth in a state of 
jlceration, may give rise to profuse salivation ; then again, a 
rough bit, and a hard master may be set down among the direct 
causes of this complaint. 



on a horse which was the subject of fistulous parotid duct. He found that, 
while the animal masticated hay, from eight to ten drachms of saliva per minuca 
flowed; but if the jaws were quiet, from six to eight drachms only. Now, if wo 
take the medium at one ounce per minute, and suppose an equal secretion from 
the opposite gland, it will fall little short of a gallon per hour, in a compara- 
tively small animal. Adding to this, therefore, the submaxillary, subl ; ugunl 
ftc, accretions, the amount secreted in a given time must be very great 



226 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

Lastly. Indifferent fodder of any kind, and impaired diges 
fcive organs, are apt to produce augmented salivary secretion. 

Treatment. — The causes must be diligently sought for, and U 
practicable, ought to be removed : this important step may, of 
itself, procure relief. If the trouble can be traced to a cari- 
ous tooth, let it be extracted, or should the edges of a tooth 
irritate the inside of the cheek, apply the tooth rasp, and make 
nil smooth. If any irritation exists about the glands of the 
throat and mouth, apply a stimulating application to them, 
composed of hartshorn and olive oil. When the malady is 
supposed to originate in consequence of the presence of some 
obnoxious article in the fodder, change the diet, and give the 
following : — 

Powdered bayberry bark, "| 
" gum myrrh, 

" goldenseal, > of each ounce. 
" ginger, 
" sulphur, J 

Mix; divide the mass into eight parts, and mix one in^we feed 
night and morning. 

In some cases we have used gargles, composed of decoction of 
witch hazel, bayberry bark, tincture gum catechu, and a solution 
of alum, either of which is good when an astringent is indicated. 
There are cases, however, that often baffle our utmost skill, such, 
for example, as are supposed to depend on some lesion of the 
nervous structure, known by a partial paralysis of one side of 
the face. 

Mr. Cox relates, in the Veterinarian, the case of a cow, " which 
was said to be constantly slavering, and more so when she was 
ruminating. The symptoms were, one eye half closed, caused 
by inability to raise the eyelid ; the ear, on the same side, hang- 
ing down ; and likewise the upper lip on the same side. It was 
evidently an attack of paralysis which was the cause of these 
appearances. The treatment was, blisters applied round the 
base of the ear, &c, and laxative medicines given. In a month 
she appeared well. 

"Another, having the same symptoms, was cured by a like 
treatment. 

" Another case yet, of like symptoms and treatment, with the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 22< 

addition of the insertion of setons, never recovered ; her eyelid 
and ear, and side of her lip, remained down, and she continually 
kept slavering, until, at last, I lost sight of her. 

" I knew a mare in which the saliva ran out of the mouth in a 
most astonishing manner. The cause I found to be a slight 
attack of paralysis on one side of the upper lip. 

" My attention was once directed to a cow that had been slaver 
ing foi up wards of nine months previous. Gallons of saliva 
might be caught in the course of twenty-four hours. I examined 
thi! cow over and over again, but never could find any apparent 
cause for the morbid secretion. She had milked well the greater 
part of the time, and had never failed in her appetite. Although 
she had become very poor, she was sold to a slink butcher. I 
had not an opportunity of making a post mortem examination. 
The person that opened her could discover ' nothing the matter.' 

" In another case of a cow, which presented the symptoms of 
the case last described, and which had been amiss about a month, 
we treated thus : a gentle purge was first given ; afterwards, an 
occasional stimulant and tonic were administered ; and the region 
of the parotid and submaxillary glands well blistered ; and this 
was repeated. She ultimately recovered." 

INFLAMMATION OF THE TONGUE — (Glostitis.) 

This is generally supposed to arise from injury to the tongue ; 
but cases frequently occur that cannot be traced to this source. 
We treated a case of this kind occurring in a horse, the property 
of Mr. Thomas Bancroft. The animal had performed his usual 
labor, when, on putting him up at night, the tongue was observed 
to be swollen, and the tip protruding on one side. On careful 
examination, no lesion nor injury of any kind could be found. 
Next day, the tongue was enormously swollen, so that the pa- 
tient was unable to close the nippers ; he had also inflammato- 
ry sore throat, and considerable fever. The treatment consisted 
in applying stimulating liniment to the throat ; the mouth was 
kept constantly moist with salt and water, occasionally cram- 
ming a handful of salt between the jaws ; he subsisted on thin 
oatmeal gruel, acidulated with cream of tartar, and got well iv 



228 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

six days, without any medicine. Another case was treated in 
the same manner, which ended in abscess under the j&w, and the 
subject quickly recovered. 

At times, inflammatory action runs high, when it will be 
necessary to give a dose of glauber salts ; dose, ten ounces. 

WOUNDS OF THE TONGUE. 

It is very fortunate for horses that wounds occurring in this 
useful appendage to the mouth generally heal very rapidly: aJ 
(hat is necessary is, to let the animal rest, keep him on a sloppy 
diet, and apply tincture of arnica to the parts. 

LAMP AS. 

So long as horse owners believe " lampas " to be a diseAoe, 
and men can be found to " burn it out," as it is sometimes termed, 
just so long will the error exist, and the barbarism continue. 

Lampas is a term used to signify a state of tumefaction exist- 
ing in the palate, about that part known as the bars, situated in 
the vicinity of the upper nippers. The tumefaction arises, — 

1. From local emphysema, — windy swelling, — rendering the 
palate elastic and augmented. 

2. From induration, — abnormal increase in the consistence 
of the palate, — owing to an accumulation of dense particles of 
blood, which resist a free circulation of that fluid through the 
parts. 

3. From congestion, either passive or active. 

In passive congestion, there is an excess of blood, in conse- 
quence either of weakness in the propelling force, or of an obsta- 
cle to the exit of blood from the congested membrane : this state 
gives rise to swelling of the veins in horses' legs also Active 
congestion is a determination of blood to the part, in conse- 
quence of local irritation, teething, &c. In aged horses we fre- 
quently find the bars of the palate in a state of hypertrophy ; but 
as this is only an exaggeration of a natural state, we take no notice 
of it ; in fact, arising from whatever cause it may, (except teeth- 
ing^ lampas does not cause the animal any inconvenience 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTO*-. 229 

This opinion, we are aware, will conflict with that of a gmai 
many horsemen, who make a practice of searching a horae'a 
mouth whenever he shows the least signs of illness, to see if the 
" lampas are down ; " but let it be understood that the bars or 
ridges of a horse's mouth correspond to the hard palate in man, 
which every one knows is not very sensitive, and therefore can- 
not be the cause of ill health, nor prevent the animal from mas- 
ticating his food. Hence the practice of burning the bars is an 
unnecessary barbarity, which should never be countenanced. 
The most that we ever do in cases of lampas is to wash the mouth 
with a weak solution of alum, or infusion of bayberry bark ; but 
it often happens that subjects with lampas are brought to us for 
examination, and in a great majority of cases we find them la- 
boring under some derangement of the digestive function, the 
restoration of which allays the owners' apprehensions about lam- 
pas. The reader, if he still considers that " something must be 
done for lampas," may, possibly, change his opinion on perusing 
the following from the pen of Mr. Percivall : — 

" Lampas is a name given by writers on farriery to a swell- 
ing, or unnatural prominence, of some of the lowest ridges or 
bars of the palate. I should not have thought it worth while to 
have taken up time with this supposed malady, but that it has 
called forth the infliction of great torture on the animal by way 
of remedy, and that it has been a cloak for the practice of much 
imposition on those who have been in the habit of consulting 
farriers on the diseases of their horses. I allude to the cruelly 
and barbarity of burning the palates of horses so affected : equal- 
ly consistent would it be, and were it consistent, more requisite, 
to cauterize the palates of children who are teething ; for the 
truth is, the palate has no more to do with the existing disease 
(if disease it can be called) than the tail has. Lampas is neither 
more nor less than a turgidity of the vessels of the palate, con- 
sequent upon that inflammatory condition of the gums which 
now and then attends the teething process ; but notwithstanding 
this plain and simple truth, the horse continues to be persecuted 
for it, even by some proj essional men, as well as farriers. The 
practice is a stigma upon our national character, and a disgrace; 
to the professors of veterinary science. 
20 



230 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

" T< elhing in children is now and then a season attended witi 
restlessness and pain, and was one, before surgeons were in the 
habit of using the gum lancet, of anxiety and danger ; but it is 
not so with horses ; they never have any feverish irritation 
created in the system, though they may have some tenderness 
of the gums and palate, and though some few, in consequence 
of this terderness, cud their food, or refuse to eat any but what 
is soft and sinirritating. In such a case, if any thing requires to 
be done, wu ought to lance the gums, not the palate ; but I do not 
remember ever to have had to do this but once ; and this hap- 
pened in the case of a horse, then in his fifth year, which had fed 
so sparingly for the last fortnight, and so rapidly declined in 
condition in consequence of it, that his owner, a veterinary sur- 
geon, was under no slight apprehensions about his life. He had 
himself repeatedly examined the horse's mouth, without having 
discovered any defect or disease ; but another veterinary sur- 
geon, to whom he had shown the animal, was of opinion that the 
averseness or inability manifested in masticating food, and the 
consequent cudding of most of that taken in, arose from a pre- 
ternatural bluntness of the faces of the grinders : these teeth, 
therefore, were filed, but no benefit -esulted. It was after this 
that I saw the horse, and must confess that I was just as much 
at a loss, in my first examination, to offer any thing satisfactory 
on the case as many others who were then present ; for his teeth 
and mouth appeared to us all to be perfect and healthy. As I 
was ruminating, however, after my inspection, on the apparently 
extraordinary nature of the case, it struck me that I had not 
seen the tusks. I immediately betook myself to a reexamina- 
tion, and then discovered two little tumors, red and hard, in the 
situations of the posterior tusks, which, when pressed, appeared 
to give the animal insufferable pain. I instantly took a pocket 
knife, and made crucial incisions through these prominences 
down to the teeth, from which time the horse recovered hii ap- 
petite, and was restored." 

Tumefaction of the mouth, arising from whatever cause it 
may, indicates cooling and astringent washes : n weak solution 
of alum will probably answer every purpose, with which the 
mouth may be sponged two or three times daily; an infusion of 
witch-hazel or bayberry bark will answer the same purpose. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. S3: 

A hot, tender, or inflamed mouth, unattended with disease 
may be relieved in the same manner. 

APHTHA, OR THRUSH. 

This disease of the mouth is very common among young 
horses. It consists of small red patches and vesicles on the in« 
side of the cheeks, also on the tongue. The mouth is hot and 
feverish, and the animal will frequently allow the food to fall out 
of it, from inability to masticate. The principal means to be em- 
ployed are, a paste made of equal parts of honey and powdered 
bayberry bark or borax ; the parts to be anointed every night. 
To promote healthy action and purify the blood, give 

Flowers of sulphur, 1 ounce, 

Powdered goldenseal , .... 2 ounces, 
" sassafras, 1 ounce. 

Mix ; divide into four parts, and give one every night in scalded 
shorts. This treatment applies to all classes of live stock. 

DENTITION. — {Teething.) 

There is no doubt that a colt sometimes suffers considerable 
pain from teething, in consequence of the resistance which the 
teeth encounter from unyielding gums. The pain does not arise, 
as some suppose, from the point of the tooth pressing upward 
against the gum, but from the downward pressure, — the roots of 
the tooth compressing the dental nerve, — consisting in local irri- 
tation, which, if not relieved, deranges a part or the whole of the 
nervous system. The remedy is a sharp gum lancet. Make an 
incision right down to the point of the tusk, or tooth, and the 
animal generally experiences relief. If he labor under sympa- 
thetic fever, appears irritable and nervous, give him a drachm of 
assafoetida in thin gruel, keep the bowels soluble, and let the diet 
be light. 

SHARP AND PROJECTING TEETH. 

Owring to the unequal wear of some horses' teeth, their edge? 
project and become sharp ; they are then apt to irritate anc 1 



232 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

wound the mucous membrane on the inside ol the cheek. In sue! 
case? we notice an increased flow of saliva, imperfect mastica 
tion, and loss of flesh. The remedy is a mouth rasp. 

LISHOPING. 

Bishoping consists in making artificial marks on horses' teeth, 
so give them the appearance of youth. It is a species of im- 
position so reprehensible that all honest horse dealers have set 
their faces against it, and we are not aware that it is to any ex- 
tent practised here. Mr. Youatt says, " It is called bishoping 
from the name of the scoundrel who invented it. The horse of 
eight or nine years old is cast, and, with an engraver's tool, a hole 
is dug in the now almost smooth surface of the corner teeth, and 
in shape and depth resembling the mark in a seven-year old 
horse. The hole is then burnt with a heated iron, and a perma- 
nent black stain is left; the next pair of nippers are sometimes 
lightly touched, to imitate the brown color of the natural mark." 
However dexterously the operation may be performed, the fraud 
is easily discovered by those who are in the habit of examining 
teelh. If the horse is aged, it may be known by the general 
appearance ; such as gray hairs, sunken eyes, deep hollows above 
them. The bones are prominent ; lips flabby ; and the nippers 
of the lower jaw, instead of appearing angular, approach, as the 
animal advances in years, to the horizontal. 



LAMENESS FROM STRAIN AND OTHER CAUSES. 

OBSERVATIONS ON LAMENESS. 

The principal difficulty surgeons meet with in the treatment 
of lameness is, that their services are not called into requisition 
in the first instance, — so soon as the trouble is discovered,— 
some owners thinking that the lameness is too slight to lay the 
animal up, and therefore they work him, hoping it will pass otf 



THE MODERN HCRSE DOCTOR. 



23:j 




234 THE MODERN HOIUE DOCTOR. 

or they argue, should he grow worse, it is then time enough */, 
talk about doctoring him. This puts us in mind of the story told 
about the sailor, who, having just left port, was one day overhaul- 
ing bis kit, when out tumbled three or four pairs of stockings, 
baving small holes in each heel. His shipmates, knowing him to 
be a married man, let off a few jokes at his wife's expense, foi 
not mending them. In order to excuse the wife's seeming neg- 
ligence, he stated that she informed him just before hs sailed 
that "the holes were too small to require darning, and not large 
enough for a patch ; and that next voyage she would see to them." 
She did not believe in the doctrine that " a stitch in time saves 
nine ; " nor does the horseman who waits until the horse becomes 
lamer. And in the event of increased lameness, it is not always 
that science is consulted, even at this stage ; for there are 
always enough men to be found, who consider " that any body can 
doctor a horse," more especially a lame one ; and who are ever 
ready to offer an opinion as to the seat of the lameness, (very fre- 
quently an erroneous one,) for we often see their prescriptions 
applied to the whirl bone, as they call it, when the lameness is 
evidently in the hock. The same mistake occurs when a part of 
the forward limb is affected. It would be quite amusing to notice 
some of the remedies, from new rum and wormwood down to a 
hot shovel, that are in such repute among these amateur savans ; 
but. the cause of science would not be benefited by it. We feel 
thankful, however, that this practice of doing worse than nothing 
is fast dying out, and that more sensible horse owners begin to 
realize that it requires just the same skill to manage the diseases 
of a horse as it does for those occurring on the owner. The very 
moment a horse becomes lame, he should be excused from duty, 
because, if it should be of a trivial nature, rest may perform a 
rure. Indeed, rest, in the early stage of any sort of lameness i>: 
beneficial, because it lessens whatever inflammation may I e 
about the part, which, if it should exist, work would only aggra- 
vate. If, on examination, the owner cannot discover the cause 
anu seat of lameness, he had better npt tru=t to his neighbor's 
opinion, but consult some one skilled in the anatomy of the horse : 
and although it may cost him a dollar or two, it will be the cheap 
i'Pt in the end. Prompt aid in the primary stage of any lame- 



TT1E MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 235 

ness, apparently trivial, might prevent much of the chronic 
lameness that we now see, and perhaps prevent many a spavii, 
and ringbone, and other deformities known to originate in liga- 
mentary lameness. Lameness may arise from a great variety 
of causes. A horse with Jlat soles may be shod so that the sole 
rests on the shoe, and while travelling on soft ground he may go 
without the least sign of lameness; but the moment he comes on 
to the pavements, he all at once becomes dead lame from 
bruise of the sole, or he may get a small pebble between the sole 
and shoe, and thus produce the same result. A horse may, in 
travelling, pick up a nail, or insinuate some foreign body into the 
sensitive part of the foot ; if so, he soon shows it by limping : he 
may not, however, limp in a slow walk, but shows it more when 
urged to a trot. Knowing how apt horses are to pick up for- 
eign bodies in the road, should an animal become lame all at 
once, the driver ought to dismount and see if he can discover the 
lame limb. If there is sufficient pain present to arrest the ani- 
mal's attention, he will generally endeavor to show it by some 
peculiar motion, such as pointing the lame foot before its fellow 
catching it up, or flexing it. Having discovered in which limb 
thp. lameness exists, the foot must be carefully examined. By 
scraping out the parts, any foreign body between the shoe and 
sole can be easily got rid of, and thus the cause is removed ; but 
if a nail should be discovered, it is not so easy to remove it, for 
it often requires some tact, and strong pincers. We remember 
being called once to draw a nail which had previously resisted 
the efforts of a strong man. The horse had to be cast, and it waa 
found necessary to cut round the nail, so as to enlarge the exter- 
nal orifice. On withdrawing it, the point was found to have been 
bent, probably by coming in contact with the coffin bone ; it had 
thus formed a sort of hook, which explained the reason why it 
could not be got out until the external wound was dilated. The 
horse was a long while ere he recovered, for a fungous growth 
was continually sprouting through the orifice of the sole, which 
made the cure very tedious. The nail being removed, we gen- 
erally dress with fir balsam, or mixed soap and sugar, — which- 
ever happens to be at hand, — and bind some oakum on the part, 
to ke«p out the dirt. The subsequent treatment will depend upon 



236 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

circumstances. For every other kind of lameness on the road, 
except that arising from the introduction of a foreign bodj, and 
provided the animal is not actually incapacitated for travel, the 
driver has no remedy but to get the horse to his quarters, letting 
him go at his own gait. 

We now come to the consideration of the various kinds of 
lameness, which are to be discovered either by the motions 
of the animal, or through manipulation ; and we set out with 
the understanding that it is no easy matter, at all times, to 
discover the real seat of lameness ; even those who are best 
qualified often disagree both as to its seat and nature. We shall 
endeavor, however, in a very brief manner, to give some diag- 
nostic symptoms by which an intelligent man, having some 
knowledge of normal action, may detect abnormal. We com- 
mence with 

HIP JOINT LAMENESS. 

This is a very rare lameness, although we constantry hear 
complaints that such a horse is "lame in the whirl bone." Over- 
exertion and immoderate work, which are considered the chief 
causes of lameness, are more apt to produce it in the lumbar 
region, and from the stifle downwards, than at the hip joint 
This form of lameness is quite common in man, and frequently 
results in anchylosis ; but we must recollect that the limbs of a 
horse, in consequence of the complexity of their bony and carti- 
laginous structures, are better calculated to sustain concussion 
than the former. There is no joint in the horse that is so well 
protected from blows and every external injury as the thigh- 
joint : the enormous muscles that surround it act as cushions, 
and successfully guard it from injury of this kind. If a horse 
falls on his side, and brings the hind quarters to the ground first, 
lie is more likely to injure that part of the hip known as its an- 
terior superior spinous process ; in short, he knocks the hip 
down, as it is termed, or fractures the pelvis, instead of injuring 
the hip-joint, as some would suppose ; and even should he slip 
down on the haunches, and force a limb outwards, the abditctui 
muscles, which limit the action of it in that direction, are more 
apt to be torn from their attachments, than that the joint should 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 23^ 

o»- njurec all fercivall has remarked that "the advances 
ma. I*-. :i vcu'.rinarv science have satisfactorily shown that the 
farrier? <puuon wa>> toi tiv most part founded va error ; the 
halting action, which ihey sonsidered as denoting hip lameness, 
more critical abservatiun. combined with post mortem results, hat 
demonstrated u. tiav u> ongu. u. disease of the hock, for the 
mobt pirt : mdeeu m spam* elite disease is a fruitful source of 
Uuneness behind, frequently insidious- in Js rise and progress, 
sometimes difficult of detection, occasionally mrapable of demon- 
stration ; no wonder, therefore, thai it jtiuuld ** often lead the 
unwary and inexperienced into error sympathetic lameness 
of the femoral region, however. ie noi uncommon; for we find 
that long-continued paiD m the toui will produce, through the 
sympathetic relations existing between remote parts, tenderness, 
heat, and sometimes corded glands in the groin. We shall not 
contend that lameness never occurs in this joint, but that it is 
rare ; for we know that, like other joints, it is sometimes the seat 
of synovial inflammation, ulceration, and suppuration. 

The diagnostic symptom of hip joint lameness is a halting, or 
kind of hopping gait, and difficulty in turning. 

Treatment. — Rest, refrigerating lotions, and light diet are in- 
dicated in the inflammatory stage ; and stimulating liniments in 
the chronic form. See Liniments. 



LAMENESS OP THE STIFLE JOINT. 

The bones composing the stifle-joint consist of the patella, 
lower part of the femur, and upper part of the tibia ; they are 
retained in position by capsular and connecting ligaments, and 
are liable to sprain and injury. The diagnostic symptoms oi 
Sprain are heat and tenderness, and the limb is advanced with 
difficclty : rest, fomentations with infusion of poppy heads, cold 
water, and sometimes physic will be the most proper means of 
cure. For chronic stifle lameness, originating in adhesions, or 
infiltrations of the surrounding tissues, a few applications of 
the acetate of cantharides will probably effect a cure. 

Horses frequently injure the parts around the stifle joint by 
eaping fences and stone walls : the treatment is the same as fo* 



238 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

bruise of any other part, when it is not convenient to ioment — 
a diluted tincture of arnica (one ounce of arnica to a pint of 
water) may be used ; or perhaps a weak solution of acetic acid 
may answer the purpose. Should the part be wounded, as it 
often is, it may be necessary to employ sutures ; but if the acci- 
dent is not discovered early, sutures are of no use. The com- 
pound tincture of aloes and myrrh will expedite the healing 
process ; and when suppuration commences, use pyroligneoas 
acid. We saw a horse a short time ago, which, in jumping a walk 
or scrambling over it, inflicted a wound about two inches below 
the patella ; considerable tumefaction followed, with a profuse 
discharge : the former yielded to fomentation and physic ; h) 
order to stop the latter and heal the wound, it was thought ad- 
visable to introduce a seton below it, and there set up an arti- 
ficial discharge, by which means a cure was effected. A horse 
may be punctured in this region. A case occurred in a ship yard 
at Medford, which may be proper to notice : A sliver had en- 
tered on the inside of the patella, and passed several inches 
backward ; it was extracted and dressed ; next day the limb 
from the hock upward became dropsical, hot, and tender: refriger- 
ating lotions, cathartics, and diuretics were used the swelling 
gradually subsided, and the wound healed ; but a large abscess 
formed just above the hock, which was opened, and the horse 
finally got well. Another horse, standing in a stable in this city, 
was punctured with a hay fork, on the outside, yet close to the 
patella; synovial inflammation and discharge of synovia took place; 
.:he case was protracted, but finally yielded to astringent injections ; 
the horse was lame for some time after, owing to adhesions that 
had taken place. Punctures of this character must be treated 
the same as open joint. See Dislocation of the Patella. 

LAMENESS OF THE HOCK. 

Lameness of the hock is generally ligamentary, except when 
originating in spavin ; and some contend that even spavin first 
commences in ligamentary tissue ; however, we have nothing to 
say about spavin just now, except to refer the reader to that 
article. Lameness in the hock, from strain, ove* -work, or blow, 
is evident from the heat, pain, and tumefaction about the parts, 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTO«. 23? 

the animal will flinch when the parts are handled, and sometimes 
catch the leg up ; if you back him out of the stall, and make 
him step foi'ward, it will be observed that there is frse motion 
in the fetlock joint — the foot is pknted on the ground with that 
freedom denoting there is nothing the matter with it ; he caa 
raise the leg, showing that the still -; joint is all right ; and there 
is perfect frejdom about the hip joint, so that the seat of lame- 
ness is evident. This is the state of affairs in the early stage j 
let the animal be the subject of lameness for two or three days, 
and we observe sympathetic affection ; that is to say, stiffnesp 
and pain, which is the cause of lameness in a remote part of the 
limb. And this peculiar feature is not one of singularity, for 
we find the same thing takes place in man : persons laboring 
under hip joint disease are often heard to complain of pain in 
the knee, the opposite extremity of the diseased bone. There is 
nothing better for recent lameness of the hock than arnica, either 
in the form of diluted tincture or infusion. The parts are to be 
kept wet, by means of a sponge, so that a cooling process shall 
go on during the inilamniatory stage ; and even should the case 
prove to be one of incipient spavin, such treatment is well calcu- 
lated to meet it. Rest, also, is one of the principal means of 
cure : those who work a horse lame in the hock must not be 
surprised if he should ultimately prove spavined. If the horee 
shows symptoms of an inflammatory diathesis, or morbid habit, 
a dose of medicine and a few messes of scalded shorts will do 
much good. 

LAMENESS OF THE SHOULDER. 

Lameness is more apt to arise in the shoulder than in the cor 
responding part of the hind extremities ; the latter having a bony 
union to the body, which prevents, or rather limits, undue exten- 
sion of the muscles. The lameness may exist in the muscular 
tissues, or at the point of articulation between the shoulder blade 
and the os humeri. 

Symptoms. — The principal diagnostic symptom is, that the 
horse, instead of advancing the leg straight forward, moves it in a 
circular manner ; and the action of the shoulder is quite differei. 
from that of the other side ; it will be observed also, that the 



240 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

animal throws the weight of the body as much on the sound side 
as possible. 

Treatment. — The treatment of shoulder lameness will depend 
altogether on the nature of the case ; if it be one of muscular 
origin, caused by heavy drawing, violent tugging, or galloping on 
hard roads, rest, fomentations, and a light dose of medicine are 
indicated. Should the animal still be lame after the inflammatory 
symptoms have subsided, use the following liniment : — 

Linseed oil, 1 pint, 

Chloric ether, 1 ounce, 

Oil of cedar, .... • • h ounce. 

Mix ; and apply to the shoulder night and morning. If the dis- 
ease is confined to the joint, counter irritants are indicated : some 
recommend blisters. What w? have used of late is the acetate of 
eantharides, to be applied occasionally over the parts affected. A 
stimulating liniment may, however, answer the purpose, com- 
posed of 

Olive oil, ~) 

Spirits camphor, >• . . equal parts. 

Tincture of ginger, ) 



ELBOW JOINT LAMENESS. 

This joint is more liable to disease than any other in the body: 
we mean, however, not to restrict such disease to the joint proper, 
but to the immediate surrounding parts, which go, as a whole, to 
make up the joint for the uses to which it is put in propelling the 
body forward. The immense muscles which are attached to the 
point of the elbow render it necessary that the union between the 
ulna and radius should be very strong. The principal power, 
bo far as the fore limbs are concerned, required for the propulsion 
of the body, are to be found in this vicinity ; and therefore acci- 
dents, for several reasons, are more apt to occur. 

Lameness arises very frequently in consequence of synovial 
inflammation, and from ulceration of the cartilages of the bones. 
Synovial inflammation arises from violence, directly or indirectly 
applied ; it is indicated by tenderness, pain, swelling, heat, and 
tumefaction around the joint, with inability of free motion, &a 
The treatment must be on the antiphlogistic plan. A dose of 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 2' 1 1 

cathartic medicine should be given to lessen the heart'- - action 
anodyne fomentation of hops may prove useful ; if high heat pre- 
vails in the surface of the lame region, refrigerating lotions — via 
egar and water — are indicated ; we have frequently used arnica 
with good effect. Very little benefit can be derived from any 
treatment unless the animal be kept at rest, and on a light diet. 
Some will say that this is very simple treatment ; but it is suitable, 
and the author has frequently essentially mitigated deep-seated 
inflammations by time and just the same sort of treatment. 

Ulcerations of the articulating surfaces of the bones comprising 
{he el5ow joint are more difficult of cure, and to the non-pro- 
fessional man still more difficult to detect. It may be present 
without any of the physical signs by which deep-seated diseases 
in more sensitive tissues are discoverable. If a horse, however, 
is lame in this joint for a great length of time, and the lameness 
gradually grows worse, and is always greater during exercise or 
work, though a few days' rest improves the action of the limb, 
yet seldom cures it, we may suspect ulceration. 

Ulceration may arise from sub-acute or synovial inflammation 
from external injuries, such as a kick or blow. We have 
specimen of fracture of the ulna, (point of the elbow,) and ex- 
tensive ulcerations and osseous deposits on the bones entering 
into this joint, following the injury ; the fracture had united, but 
the horse was subsequently destroyed, in consequence of the 
incurability of the ulcerations. Ulceration also follows a breach 
of the synovial membrane. 

Treatment. — The bowels are to be kept in a soluble state by 
means of saline aperients and messes of scalded shorts ; the3e 
counteract a tendency to constipation, which is sure to follow the 
test absolutely necessary for the cure. The treatment should not 
be very active at first, for the ulceration may be only a sequence 
of injury to the synovial membrane. It is sufficient to attend to 
constitutional treatment, subdue any morbid diathesis that may 
exist, and sweat the parts by applying the following two or three 
times a day : — 

Tincture of balm of gilead, . . 8 ounces, 

Oil of cedar, 1 ounce, 

New rum, . . . . . 1 pint. 

21 



242 THE MODEKN HOUSE DOCTOR. 

In the later stages the application of acetate of can thunder 
may be persisted in. If the ulcerations are very superficial, nit 
involving the joint, but merely confined to the heads of the bones, 
they can be detected by manipulation, and we may entertain some 
hope of restoring the animal to some degree, of usefulness ; 
whereas, in the former disease, our best efforts and hopes ore 
often met by failure and disappointment. 

Lameness from Tumor on the Elbow. — An encysted tumor may 
t:ak i its appearance just below the elbow, small at first, but grad- 
ually enlarging to about the size of a man's double fist : some per- 
sons are in the habit of excising them. We saw a case, a few 
months ago, in which the tumor, including the integument, had 
been sliced off, leaving a most awful gaping wound, which was 
left to heal by the slow process of granulation. Such an opera- 
tion argues but very little on the score of skill or humanity, and 
is more indicative of the age of barbarity than that of reason. 
There are chronic cases occasionally brought under the surgeon's 
notice, in which an operation becomes unavoidable ; and that is 
when the tumor has degenerated into a dense fibrous mass, and 
interferes with the action of the limb : ordinary lameness, how- 
ever, is not an accompanying symptom, for many horses can be 
found in this city with medium-sized tumors that are never known 
to take a lame step. These tumors ultimately become indolent, 
neither inflamed nor painful, and finally degenerate into a fibrous 
mass, which may be nothing more than an eyesore. 

Cause of Tumors. — They may arise, like tumors in any 
other part of the body, from bruise or accident, and they some- 
times occur without any visible cause ; we strongly suspect that 
the effused fluid comes from the parts above, — articulatory sur- 
faces of the shoulder, — at this point the common integument being 
loose, forms a sort of sac, — a receptacle for the accumulation of 
each fluid, — and it ultimately becomes enveloped with a sac of 
fibvin formed out of its own deposits. Some persons have sup- 
posed that these tumors are enlarged bursa; : if that were the case, 
they would take on extensive inflammatory action when optned, 
as bursal sacs invariably do : on the contrary, they are punc- 
tured, setoned, and even excised, and seldom, if ever, any high 
grade of inflammatory action results , so that they cannot be thft 



THE MODERN HOUSE DOCTOR. 2^3 

ordinary bursal sacs, and must therefore originate in tffusion of 
lyniphy fluid. 

Treatment. — We have now and then seen cases of elbow 
tumor brought on by bruising the parts with the calking of the 
shoe while the horse is lying down in the stable. Here the cause 
is evident ; we have a common bruise, and if it were treated 
promptly with cooling applications, effusion might be prevented 5 
but it happens in many cases that the injury is not perceived ; 
and if it is, very little, if any, notice is taken of it, until, by a repe- 
tition of the act, a callous or morbid local diathesis is confirmed, 
and we observe a chronic tumor. 

The treatment then, in the early stage of bruise or injury to 
the part, is the same as for bruise or injury in any other location^ 
mild, soothing, and refrigerating. In the case of a chronic tumor, 
we first ascertain if it have a fluctuating feel: if that should be 
the case, we puncture it with a common trocar, and canula, or an 
incision may be made into it. If, on the other hand, we can 
clearly ascertain that there is a dense tumor to deal with, the 
best course is to cast the horse, make an incision, and dissect out 
the tumor : the cavity should be sponged with tincture of myrrh, 
(to set up adhesive inflammation,) and the wound may be brought 
together by sutures, leaving a small opening at the most depend- 
ent part of the sac for the escape of pus. In view of promoting 
healthy action, the part may be dressed daily, after being washed, 
with compound tincture of myrrh. 

In a tumor that has no perceptible origin, but may be supposed 
to arise in the manner just alluded to, viz., by effusion from the 
scapular surfaces, the moment fluid can be detected at the point 
of the elbow, pass a seton through it. We have tried all the 
usual remedies, from a common irritant to a blister, in view of 
absorbing the fluid, and have found nothing equal to a seton ; but 
it should be resorted to early, before a layer of fibriD has been 
formed. 

CURB. 

A curb is an enlargement which makes its appearance on (he 
hind legs, about two inches below the hock. It is sometimes 
occasioned by a blow but the most frecuent cause is strain of 



iJil THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

the sheath through which the flexor tendons pass If seen m 
its early stage, it would, in all probability, yield to rest and cold 
water bandages. But if neglected until effusion takes place, 01 
the surrounding tissues become injected and ihiekened, and the 
horse becomes lame, then a different course of lieatment must be 
adopted. Our usual remedy is 

Acetic acid, 4 ounces, 

Powdered bloodroot, 1 ounce, 

Turpentine 1 ounce. 

To be applied to the part night and morning for at least a week 
a norwards to be bathed daily with common vinegar. 

There are cases, however, in which coagulable lymph will 
form, and may thus leave the parts m a state of callosity for 
some time, which only patience, constant friction, or the applica- 
tion of some stimulant, can overcome. Among the various ap- 
plications in use, we prefer the following : — 

Oil of cedar, ^ 

" sassafras, > . . of each, 1 ounce, 

" marjoram, ) 
Soft soap, 1 pint. 

lo be used daily, always rubbing in a downward direction 

As regards exercise, the inflammatory stage requires rest , and 
in the chronic form, exercise will be indicated, provided, how- 
ever, the horse be not lame. 

NAYICULAETHRITIS. — {Disease of the Navicular Joint.) 

Mr. Percivall, who is the best authority on navicular disease, 
defines navicularthritis to be " a disease of the navicular joint, 
giving rise to lameness." 

The Nature of the Disease. — It consists in deep-seated sprain, 
injury, or morbid action, within the hoof, first manifesting itself 
by inflammatory action, heat, and tenderness, terminating in ad- 
hesion, ulceration, and caries ; at times, however, in ossification 
of contiguous parts. 

Symptoms. — The most important diagnostic symptom is, that 
the horse generally points the foot, viz., advances it, while stand- 
ing in the street or stable, a few inches — sometimes more — be 
yond its fellow, the fore feet being the ones generally affected 



THE MODERN HORSE rOCTOft. 245 

the heek are sometimes hot and feverish, and, on making pres- 
sure with the finger (into the space formed by the quarters and 
pastern bones) in a downward direction, the horse shows signs of 
pain, There are times, however, when symptoms of pain cannot 
be elicited by pressure ; and that is when the disease commences 
in the navicular bone, and before the sensitive tissues are in- 
volved. But even should the disease commence in the former, 
the horse will at times point the foot forward, and occasionally 
be caught limping, not lame enough though to attract the atten- 
tion of any but a close observer. As the disease progresses, the 
heels contract, and curve towards each other ; the hoof appears 
dry and brittle ; the sensitive and nutritive tissues are now in- 
volved ; the supply of synovial fluid is partly or wholly suspend- 
ed ; friction commences ; adhesion forms, gluing parts together, 
preventing the free articulation of the joint ; the horse goes per- 
ceptibly, yet gradually, lamer, up to the period of ulceration. 
The final result is often fracture of the navicular bones. The 
diagnostic symptom — pointing of the foot — is a persistent fea- 
ture of navicular disease ; for not only does the animal show it at 
rest, but also, while travelling, the toe touches the ground before 
the heel. On examining a horse's foot, therefore, supposed to 
be the subject of this disease, we shall find the under surface of 
the shoe worn more at the toe than at the heels. These symp- 
toms, coupled with observation that hard work aggravates the 
lameness, and that there is no abnormal action or enlargement 
elsewhere, will go to make out a case of navicular disease. 

When both fore feet become affected, the horse is said to be 
groggy. Surgeon White defines grogginess to be " a tenderness 
and stiffness about the feet, from hard trotting upon the road, 
which causes him to go in an uneasy, hobbling manner, particu 
larly when made to trot down a hill without any support from 
the bridle." So much for the symptoms ; and, in order lo give 
the reader more light on the nature of grogginess, we refer to 
Percivall, who informs us that " the epithet groggy was suggested 
oy the unsteady, rolling, unsafe action cf the lame horse bein^ com- 
pared to that of a drunken man." The pathological researches 
of later times have demonstrated that groggy lameness has its 
origin in navicularthritis. 
21 * 



246 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

If we except the few veterinary surgeons that are scattered 
over the United States, scarcely any one else knows any thing 
about the history or pathology of this disease. Dr. Wood haa 
lately called attention to it in an article published in the Boston 
Cultivator ; aside from this we do not remember ever reading 
any thing on the subject. In England, the attention of the fac- 
ulty was directed to the subject by Mr. Turner, V. S. See 
Wppopathology, p. 131. 

Treatment. — If the lameness is seen in the early stage of na- 

\ icularthritis, our general custom is, to remove the shoe, and apply 

cold poultices, composed of oatmeal, vinegar, and water, to which 

add for each poultice a handful of fine salt ; the poultice is to be 

fairly spread over the surface of the hoof and heels, then to be 

confined by means of thin cotton cloth, secured just above the 

coronet. A mixture of equal parts of vinegar and water should 

be kept ready to moisten the mass whenever it becomes dry, so 

as to keep up a refrigerating action of the foot. Three or four 

poultices will generally suffice, employing one every twenty-four 

hours, on removing which the foot must be washed with soar 

and water. At the end of four days, substitute for the poultice 

Tincture of arnica 4 ounces, 

Water, 1 pint. 

Mix ; and sponge the foot three times a day. Give the patient a 
dose of medicine ; keep him on scalded shorts, seasoned with salt, 
allowing a small quantity of hay, and let him have rest. If it 
should turn out, on discontinuing the poultices, that the heels are 
tender, the animal being unwilling to bring the frog to the floor, 
some soft clay must be placed under him, and so disposed of thai 
he can stand on it. We consider this treatment best adapted to 
the early sub-acute stage of the malady. Some persons recom- 
mend hot poultices and fomentations ; but we prefer cold to the 
inflammatory, and hot applications to chronic stages of deep 
6eated, and even superficial disease. Should the case be one ot 
a chronic type, we follow up the above treatment with count* i 
irritants. A preparation known as the acetate of cant/iarides 
(which can be procured of the apothecaries) has been, in oui 
practice, instrumental in removing lameness of this description. 
This, howo'ei or any other remedy, would have but little effeel 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 24T 

in restoring a part to soundness that was in a state of caries 
As a palliative, we can with confidence recommend it, having 
witnessed good effects follow its use. 

If the animal be not restored to usefulness under this treatment, 
let him run to grass, if the season permits, having tips nailed on 
the feet to guard against fracture of the hoof; and, after the 
lapse of a few weeks, if he still be found lame, as a last resort, 
neurotomy may be tried. See Neurotomy. 

OPERATION FOE, NEUROTOMY. — (Nerving.) 

Neurotomy consists in a division or excision of a portion of 
nervous fibre. The operation has, to some extent, received the 
cold shoulder from very many horsemen in this country, whose 
horses, after being operated on, have actually walked off, leaving 
their hoofs behind them. We feel safe to say, however, that this 
unfortunate occurrence may have been the fault of those who a 
few years ago went about from one place to another, operating 
without the requisite skill necessary for the ultimate success of the 
object, and destitute of that knowledge necessary in the selection 
of suitable subjects for the operation. This is evidently the case ; 
for some of the animals thus operated on were the subjects of 
vcute laminitis — a form of disease that no regular veterinarian 
would ever think of relieving by neurotomy ; so that many who 
now decry neurotomy have had but a partial opportunity of 
judging of its merits. If a man lacking the requisite skill under- 
takes to amputate a person's limb, and at a certain stage of the 
operation fails to secure the main artery, and in consequence the 
patient bleeds to death, where does the blame rest? Not with 
the science, — that has its regular law of rule and contingency, — 
but on him who thus ignorantly misperformed the operation, So 
oi neurotomy, if (and we are confident) it has here been perform ( tl 
in direct opposition to the established rules of science and the 
principles of practice, the results should be no criterion of its 
general application or usefulness. Neurotomy was never in- 
tended, nor is it calculated, to relieve every form of disease 
ocf urring within a horse's foot, no more than trepanning is calcu- 
lated to cure all diseases of the brain and its appendages ; but iu 



24b THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

a case of depression, or when a small portion of bone has pene- 
trated the cerebral mass, and the patient is comatose, relief by 
trephine is almost with absolute certainty calculated on. Hence 
we advise the readers not to be over-hasty in judging of the 
value of this surgical operation, until they have satisfied them- 
selves that the operators were qualified to select suitable subjects 
for it. For it is only calculated, like many others, to give relief 
in certain morbid conditions, and at a certain progressive stage 
of the infirmity. The author's experience, as regards the utility 
of the operation, is rather limited, he having only performed it 
in a few isolated cases, and then at the particular request of 
the subjects' owners. Many horses have been brought to him 
as subjects for neurotomy, laboring under chronic diseases of 
the foot, for the cure of which he has preferred other means, 
with probably better success than might have attended the oper- 
ation. We have always maintained that in the event of a lame 
horse being restored to usefulness after being neurotomized, it is no 
proof that he might not have been restored by less objectionable 
means. We shall now furnish the reader with some of the views 
of Professor Percivall, whose works, occupying, as they do, sc 
elevated a position in veterinary literature, are consulted author- 
itatively. Our quotations must be incomplete, — merely a 
synopsis, — in consequence of our prescribed limits. 

Mr. Percivall awards the credit of introducing neurotomy into 
veterinary practice to Surgeon Moorcroft ; and to Professor 
Sewell, he argues, "belongs the credit of practically demonstrat- 
ing its utility for the removal of foot lameness of a navicular - 
thritic description ; also as a remedy for the removal of lame- 
ness in cases where medicine is confessedly powerless, together 
with the serviceability of neurotomized horses, not for chiving 
only, but for riding, and even for hunting." Mr. Moorcroit's 
views regarding the operation are learned from a passage winch 
occurs in a letter, communicated by him, eighteen years after his 
first operation, to the editor of the Calcutta Journal. 

.; » * * i recollect not the number of horses operated on 
Dy me successfully, though it was somewhat considerable. Some 
of these were worked by myself; and the general impressions en 
iny mind at this interval are, that horses so operated 3D, when 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 243 

they did not again become lame, were more apt to stumble with 
the limb operated than with the other, and that this mode of treat- 
ment was likely to be more usefully applicable to coach horses 
than to horses intended for single harness or for the saddle. 

" The remote Effects from Neurotomy looked for. — Whethef 
the nutritive and secretory functions of the foot, deprived of 
nervous power, would proceed as before ; and, further, what dif- 
ference neurotomy might make in the animal's action or tread 
upon the ground. Moorcroft had observed that, under the loss 
of nervous energy, ' the repairing powers of the foot were not in- 
jured so far as they depended upon the action of blood vessels ; ' 
and subsequent experience has confirmed this observation. In- 
flammation appears to be the same process on a senseless as it is 
on a sensitive foot, and the secretion of horn goes on as well in 
one as in the other : the grand and important difference between 
the two is, that, supposing the neurotomized foot to receive a 
prick or bruise, and inflammation and suppuration to follow, 
matter may collect and burrow underneath the sole or frog, or 
other part, and the horse, incapable of feeling any hurt in his 
foot, can of course give no intimation of mischief, by showing 
pain or lameness to his groom or master ; and consequently, un- 
less the latter should detect the evil himself, suppuration may 
proceed to that extent to cause the hoof to separate and be cast 
off the foot — a catastrophe which has happened more than once, 
and one that has been brought forward as a fearful argument 
against the practice of neurotomy. A neurotomized horse may 
receive a stab, in being shod, from a nail taking a wrong direction, 
or be may pick up a nail on the road, and no intimation what- 
ever of the injury be given, unless his farrier or groom happen 
\o discover it. Such accidents, however, are not of every day's 
occurrence, neither are they, in the hands of expert farriers and 
careful grooms, likely to happen without their knowledge, and 
therefore have no right to be regarded in the light of arguments 
against neurotomy, further than such hazard, remote though it 
may be, tends to the diminution of such horse's value in the 
market." 

Mr. Percivall decides that " neurotomy not only destroy? the 
safeguards of the foot, but the horse does not maintain the same 



250 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR 

Step and tread he used before." As an offset to this, he intro 
duces several very interesting cases to show the benefits derived 
from neurotomy, with the accompanying remark, that " he feels 
convinced that when the subjects for the operation shall have 
been properly selected, and the fitting time chosen for its per- 
formance, similar results may be sanguinely and pretty surely 
anticipated." 

The oases here referred to clearly show that the operation on 
them was eminently successful. The rule laid down by Mr. P 
is, " to operate on no other but the incurably lame horse ; and 
whenever this has been attended to, not only has success been 
more brilliant, but indemnification from blame or reproach has 
been assured." 

" To command success in neurotomy, three considerations re- 
quire attention : — 

w l. The subject must be fit and proper; in particular, the 
disease for which neurotomy is performed should be suitable in 
kind, seat, stage, &c. 

" 2. The operation must be skilfully and effectually performed. 

" 3. The use that is made of the patient afterwards should not 
exceed what his altered condition appears to have fitted him for." 

A number of cases are next alluded to, going to show that "for 
lameness in the foot, coronet, or pastern, incurable or unrelieved 
by therapeutic means ; for navicularthritis and its consequences ; 
for the effects of chronic coronitis and laminitis, barring sunk 
6oles ; for ossified cartilages, for ringbone, for contraction, the 
operation of neurotomy is especially applicable — nor will prac- 
titioners who regard their own credit, or that of the operation, 
feel desirous of extending, for lameness at least, its sphere of 
appliancy." 

Mr. Percivall warns veterinary surgeons against performing 
the operation when there is any detectable inflammatory action 
about the foot ; but recommends them, first to subdue by the 
usual antiphlogistic means, any acute symptoms that may be 
present ; he urges as a reason, that surgeons never perform (if 
it can possibly be avoided) an operation on the human subject in 
an inflamed locality. Another reason might be added for subdu- 
ing inflammatory action prior to operating ; for aftei having done 



THE MODERN HOUSE DOCTOR. 25\ 

60 (there might be such a ease) the lameness may subside, so (hat 
the owner would be spared the expense, and his horse the pain, 
of an operation. 

Neurotomy, observes Mr. P., "has other objects besides the 
removal of lameness. Both the oestral and generative functions 
have been restored through neurotomy. Brood mares that have 
proved barren in consequence of painful lameness annihilating in 
hi in all sexual desire, and that have ceased to have at the usual 
«sason any return of the oestrum, have, from losing such pain, 
had their natural generative functions restored, and become again 
good breeders." 

" In 1822," writes Mr. Rockwood, " a chestnut mare at Oakley, 
the property of the Marquis of Tavistock, went very lame in the 
near foot behind, in consequence of complete ossification of the 
lateral cartilages and extensive ossific disease around the coronet. 
She scarcely ever placed the foot upon the ground, but generally 
moved upon three legs. Her sufferings prevented the periodical 
oestrum. She had not bred for years. About two months after 
the operation, she went to work, and moved round; she has bred 
several healthy foals, and works as usual." In this view the 
author looks upon neurotomy as a curse rather than a blessing, 
for the United States can already outdo any nation on earth in 
the number of her horses laboring under some form of ossific dis- 
t ase ; and for them to call in the aid of neurotomizers only to 
add to the countless host of deformed animals would increase 
their number to a deplorable extent. A mare having " complete 
ossification of the lateral cartilages and extensive ossific disease 
around the coronet," ought never to be put to a stud ; the suppres- 
Bion of her periodical oestrum, and the annihilation of her sexual 
desire, would be a public benefit, to say the least, while it should 
leach us that nature strives by all the means in her power to 
|>erpetuate nothing but what is calculated to retain the stamp, 
perfection, and beauty of its original type. The suppression of 
the generative function is in this case, as also in many others, the 
operation of that law which limits all animated ci eation to certain 
bounds, beyond which they cannot go without forfeiting their 
right and title to the protection of those harmonious laws whiolj 
the God of nature has thrown around them. 



252 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

Let people neurotomize horses for incurable lamenes?, fm 
the relief of pain which no other means can accomplish, and we 
call them philanthropists — the handmaids of nature. But wl.en 
neurotomy is resorted to for the purpose of forcing nature to teem 
with deformities, it should be set aside as a curse to the four- 
looted race ; and its advocates should be rebuked. We considei 
an unsound animal, as the mare evidently was, just about as 
valjable for breeding purposes, in view of perfect symmetry of 
foim, endurance, and long life, as a diseased potato would be foi 
the production of a succession of perfect germs and a supply of 
healthy food for man. The deformities of the parent, and the 
imperfections of the vegetable germ, may not at once appear ; but 
the day of reckoning must come ere many generations have passed 
away, or many harvests have been gathered ; and if nature con- 
demns the one to barrenness and the other to premature decay, 
it is done to assert her empire. In justice to the talented author 
just quoted, we remark, that the practice of neurotomy for the 
purpose to which we allude does not receive his advocacy : he 
merely observes, that neurotomy has other objects besides the 
removal of lameness ; and introduces a case from the pen of 
another individual by way of illustration. 

As regards the success of the operation in the United States, 
when performed by qualified persons, so far as the author has 
been able to ascertain, it has been quite as successful as in the old 
world ; and there is no reason why it should not be, when practised 
by qualified veterinary surgeons. 

We now come to describe the operation of neurotomy; and we 
recommend that, in all operations of this kind, the subject be 
etherized, not only in view of preventing pain, but that we may, 
in the absence of all struggling on the part of our patient, perform 
the operation satisfactorily, and in much less time after etheriza- 
tion has taken place than otherwise. So soon as the patient ia 
under the influence of that valuable agent, we have nothing to fear 
from his struggles, provided we have the assistance of one expe- 
rienced to administer it. We generally use a mixture of chloro- 
form and chloric ether in our operations, and consider it far 
preferable, so far as the life of the patient is concerned, to puro 
nblnroform. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 253 

Whichever article is used, care should be taken not to intro- 
duce it into the respiratory organs too suddenly. A sufficient 
quantity of atmospheric air must be amalgamated with it ; and 
this is insured by moving the sponge to and fro before the nos- 
trils for a short time, when the sponge may be placed in a commoi? 
breathirg apparatus ; * in many cases, however, when operating 
ui a barn, or any where under cover, we use nothing but a large 
circular sponge having a deep concavity, which admits of the 
horse's nose. The horse having been cast and etherized, we 
release one of the fore legs from the hobbles, and if the limb be 
found in a perfect state of relaxation, the subject having no con- 
trol over it, then is the proper time to commence the operation 

The limb is now to be brought into its natural position, and thus 
held by an assistant. Supposing the horse to lie on the off side, 
we now make an incision over the region of the plantar nerve, 
on the outside of the near limb. The incision commences just 
below the head of the pastern, to the extent of one inch, or a trifle 
more : having exposed the nerve, we pass a director beneath it; a 
simple incision into the groove of the director separates the nerve. 
If it is desirable to excise a portion of the nerve, we seize the 
lower end with a small pair of forceps, and cut off a small piece 
with a pair of scissors. If both fore legs are to be operated on, 
we first operate on the inside of the off leg; then, by rolling the 
animal over, we have an opportunity to repeat the same thing on 
the opposite side. Most surgeons bring the edges of the wounds 
together by sutures; and if we could be sure of uniting them by 
what is called first intention, it would be proper to do so : it is 
certainly in accordance with the principles of rational surgery, 
and looks more workmanlike thus to close the incisions; but a 
friend of ours residing in Maine, who has operated on quite a 
number of horses, informs us that he never uses suture, but dressea 
with a balsamic liquid, and over all a cold wate»* bandage, and the 
animals show but a slight blemish. In the f«"v cases we have 
operated on, sutures were used, and bandages, which some recom- 
mend, were dispensed with, for they only tend to irritate the 
♦vounds and keep up an unnatural heat about the part : our ex- 

• In all rases of etherization at the Massachusetts HospiM, a simple sponpe 
s used. The complicated and expensive breathing machines ar 3U senso* 1 with 



251 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

perienee is, that bandages do not agree so well with horse as witt 
human flesh. Various instruments are in use for the perform- 
ance of this operation, which we do not deem necessary to describe 
here. The success of the operation depends more on the skill of 
the operator than on his tools ; for a good anatomist can al any 
time divide the nerve with a common penknife : in fact the thing 
is often done. 

The reader will perceive that we have merely described the 
operation, without entering into its details, or the anatomical 
points involved : to place on paper all the minutiae necessary to 
constitute every man a neurotomist would be a work of impossi- 
bility ; hence we advise those who desire to have their horses 
operated on to employ a professional man. 

PLEURODYNIA. — {Inflammation of the Muscles of the Chest atid fore 
Extremities.') 

This is a disease to which the attention of veterinarians has 
lately been called by Mr. Haycock, in his work on Veteri- 
nary Homoeopathy, who observes, " I am perfectly satisfied as tc 
the existence of this disease, and also of its having been over- 
looked." We have frequently treated animals presenting some 
of the peculiar symptoms here enumerated, and, for the simple 
reason that we had no other name for it, called it rheumatism, or 
founder. 

The symptoms are as follows : " One great difference between 
'pleurodynia and pleurisy is, that in the former affection the dis- 
ease exhibits little or no variation, while in pleurisy, the varia- 
tions are remarkable, and constitute one of the principal features 
by which it is to be distinguished or recognized. 

" In pleurodynia, the animal moves in a very rigid manner ; 
he steps short and very slow ; he is greatly dejected and cast 
down ; the back is arched ; the skin over the surface of the body 
exhibits great tenderness, whether he be handled roughly or deli- 
cately ; he also grunts a good deal, and great tenderness is some- 
times present upon one or both sides of the chest, and the skin 
presents that state of corrugation easily recognized. The respi- 
rations are short and limited, and the pulse will generally range 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 256 

from fifty to sixty-four per minute, but on some occasions it in 
not at all disturbed. If the ear be applied to the chest, the mur- 
mur can generally be detected very clearly throughout, particu- 
larly in the superior regions of the cavity, while, if the ear b« 
held close to the lowest part of the inferior region, a sort of 
rumbling sound is heard; but this can only be detected when 
the skin over the part is more tender than elsewhere, and when 
it is contracted into folds, and moves, and when such contractible 
motion is continuous. This sound I entirely attribute to the 
tremulous motion which is going on within the subtextures ; for if 
the ear be kept firmly to the chest, the motion soon ceases, together 
with the rumbling sound ; and, provided we remain quiet, and 
the animal be pacified, we can then distinctly hear the clear, 
natural respiratory murmur, though somewhat suppressed from 
the constrained manner in which the chest itself is expanded. 
The hair over the entire body is dry, and very unthrifty in ap 
pearance. If the animal be made to walk up hill, it is performed 
cleverly, but great difficulty is experienced in coming down 
again ; the patient travels as though his feet were actually in- 
flamed ; the appetite is bad in some cases, and moderately good 
in others ; the urine is scanty, and the dung is dry looking ; the 
patient does not lie down well ; it is seldom or never that he 
coughs. In this state the animal may remain for weeks, without 
the least variation, save that the pulse becomes lower, falling to 
about thirty-eight or forty-two per minute ; but the majority of 
such cases, if properly treated, are generally cured in from three 
to six days." 

The causes are, over-exertion and exposure. " If the disease 
be from an inflammation excited within the muscles of the chest 
and fore extremities, and also of the cellular tissue investing 01 
lurrounding such muscles, the fact, I think, will in a great mess 
ure le satisfactorily demonstrated. Should the animal have been 
subject to long-continued and very severe exertion, this, together 
with the tenderness of the muscles, and the assistance which aus- 
cultation will afford us, will be sufficient to enable us to decide. In 
conclusion, I may add that pleurisy, pleurodynia, and inflamma« 
lion of the muscles may either exist as separate affections, or two 
nr more r»f them may exist in association, or any one of them, oj 



256 THE MODERN HOUSE DOCTOR. 

all of them may also exist in association with disease of the heart.* 
Treatment, homoeopathic. The best remedies we know of for ac 
affection of this character are, rest, laxative medicine, light diet, 
and cold water packing — supposing, however, that it is brought 
on by severe work. Should it be occasioned by exposure, treat 
it the same as a common attack of rheumatism. 

ACUTE RHEUMATISM, OR FOUNDER. 

This is a very common disease among horses, and probably 
occurs more frequently than people would suppose. "We have 
treated quite a large number of cases during the past few years. 
Some of them yielded very readily, and disappeared just as sud- 
denly as they came ; others were protracted, became chronic, and 
left the subject with stiffened muscular fibres, contractions of mus- 
cles and hoofs, effusions into bursal sacs around the fetlocks, &c. 
and two cases terminated fatally, in one of which the autopsy 
showed high inflammation of the interior of the heart — endocar~ 
ditis: the internal membrane of that organ had the appearance 
of purple velvet, with effusions of lymph on its surface ; the ten- 
dinous cords of the lateral ventricles were Strang with fibrous de- 
posits to such an extent that they must have had interference with 
the heart's action. The second case was complicated ; the ex- 
ternal covering of the heart — pericardium — had several adhe- 
sions, and its surface next the heart was studded in several 
places with lymph granules ; slight effusion had also taken place. 
The internal appearance of the heart was the same as in the 
preceding case, excepting the fibrous deposits on the cordce tendi- 
tue. (This rare specimen is now among our collection of morbid 
anatomy, for the inspection of those who may wish to see it.) 
"We strongly suspect that many diseases of the fibrous and ten- 
dinous structures have their origin in rheumatic disease ; and if 
the horse could only speak, he would often tell us of his flying 
aches and pains, long before we discover any thing of the sort 
These horses, from the first, had febrile symptoms of an acuta 
inflammatory character, which active cathartics and counter irri- 
tants seemed to have no effect on. The first subject d'ed on th« 
fifth day from the attack, and the latter on the ninth. In ihfl 



THE MODERN HORSF DOCTOR. 257 

human subject, rheumatism and cardiac affection are twin 
brothers. In some subjects the diseases appear, now and then, 
to go hand in hand; cardiac disease is liable to end in rheuma- 
tism, and vice versa Gallup thus alludes to the subject : " II 
rheumatism shows a propensity to migrate more than some other 
affections, it claims this rignt by keeping within the range of it« 
kindred tissues. It goes to the tissue of a neighboring joint ol 
the same family, and its way is prepared by an altered and ex- 
cited state of all these tissues, when the morbid habit has been 
established. If it steals its way to the heart, it there occupies 
its family seat in the fibrous tissues. But it is not very common 
that it makes this stride ; when it does, it is liable to be a fatal 
one ; it commonly abides there to spend its rage and subdue its 
victim. It acknowledges the same predisposing causes with other 
acute diseases, which are aided by an idiosyncrasy. It is a dis- 
ease chiefly of cold seasons, but does appear in the predisposed 
from the influence of relative cold, from sudden changes in warm 
seasons." 

" The concentrations of local affections in disease often pass 
from one part to another with equal facility, before the part has 
suffered essential lesions by their ravages ; and, indeed, in some 
cases, when this is the fact, without carrying with them the 
alterations they have already made. The localists and humoral- 
ists have always been confounded with their own theories, be- 
cause they never could apprehend bow their materia excitans 
should so easily migrate the capillaries as to get so far without 
their being able to ken its march." 

Here we have an explanation of that peculiar state of the 
system, termed by some writers body founder, which is nothing 
more nor less than rheumatism in its chronic stage. In a case of 
this kind, the whole muscular system seems affected. White 
thus describes it : " At first the foundered horse appears as if 
every part of the body were affected, and sometimes this is the 
case ; at others, the fore parts or the feet appear affected ; and 
in some cases, the loins or hind parts generally. This disorder 
is similar to acute rheumatism, or rheumatic fever, [it is identi- 
cal,] and appears to depend on inflammation cf the muscles 
sometimes affecting the muscles of respiration, and sometimes 
22* 



258 THE MODERN HOUSE 1JOCTOR. 

even the heart itself." There is no difference, then, oetwetr. 
acute rheumatism and founder ; their terminations are in harmo- 
ny with each other ; and this proposition is confirmed when we 
notice the causes of the latter. Founder is produced by clrlling 
the animal when exhausted or much fatigued ; he may be chilled, 
after a brisk drive, by exposure to the weather, by external in- 
fluences, or he may be chilled by imbibing cold water in quan- 
tity sufficient to reduce the temperature of the system too sud- 
denly. The author last quoted says, " Founder is produced by 
driving a horse, when in a state of perspiration, into a pond, ex- 
posing him to cold wind or rain, or tying him up in the stable 
yard while the hostler washes his legs or thighs, and sometimea 
his body ; but excessive exertion alone will, and often does, pro- 
duce every kind of founder." Here we have the causes of rheu- 
matism. Who can deny it? Take a plethoric, over-fed horse, 
and let him be exposed even to a slight exciting cause, an affec- 
tion is generated, and propelled, with railroad speed, from tissue 
to tissue, constituting acute rheumatism — body founder ; or, 
as in the cases just alluded to, it may spend its force on the 
heart, and extinguish the vital principle. The disease is apt, at 
times, to locate in circumscribed situations, about a joint or mus- 
cular region ; but the treatment will not differ much. 

Treatment of acute Rheumatism. — Our first prescription is 
invariably the following nauseating cathartic : — 

Powdered aloes, 6 drachms, 

" lobelia, 2 drachms, 

"Warm water, 1 pint. 

Free action of the bowels must be persisted in, and they must 
afterwards be kept soluble by means of some such remedy as 
the following : — 

Cream of tartar, ) 

Sulphur, £■ of each, . . 2 drachma, 

Podophyllum, ) 

Wine of colchicum,* .... 2 drachms, 

Thin gruel, 1 pint. 

Mix, and give as a drench. 



• Vinum Colch ci seminis of the United Statos Dispensatory. It can bt 
[tn. cured of any apothecary. The author has a preparation of colchicine 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 259 

This medicine should be continued as occasion may require 
for example, suspending it when the discharges are frequent, and 
again exhibiting it when peristaltic action is tard)\ 

In view of increasing cutaneous exhalation, we give an infusion 
of lobelia and pleurisy root, half an ounce of each to half a gallon 
of boiling water ; when macerated sufficiently, strain, and add a 
gill of honey. Dose, one pint every four or six hours. 

As regards large and repeated Doses of Medicine. — When car 
ried beyond a certain point, these are sure to do harm ; for this 
disease is located in tissues that are under the dominion of the 
nerves of external relation : these tissues may be highly excited 
and painful, in consequence of the congested state of the capil- 
laries ; at the same time, the vital fluid — blood — is deficient in 
the region of nutritive tissues : at such times cathartics have a dis- 
astrous sedative * tendency, very prostrating and uncontrollable. 

It is a fact not generally realized, that there is more danger ir 
giving too much, than too little, medicine. It is astonishing how 
little medicine will at times favor the physiological state, and thus 
restore a patient to health ; while we have abundant evidence 
going to show that ours, as well as the four-footed race, have been 
almost universally over-dosed. We generally keep the rectum 
empty by means of saline injections ; should the bowels respond 
to the medicine as often as seems proper, they may be dispensed 
with. 

As regards external Applications. — If steam can be so con- 
ducted to the body of the patient (see Steaming Apparatus) as to 
keep up a relaxation of the capillaries, external liniments may 
be dispensed with. In the event of failing to secure diaphoresis, 
the capillary absorbents must be excited with the following ex- 
ternal application : — 

which, he prefers to any other ; he has termed it the acidulated tincture of jo/- 
chtcum. It '« made in the following manner : — 

Take of colchicum, bulb and seeds, 2 ounces 

Proof spirit, . 1 pint, 

Diluted acetic acid, 1 pint. 

fDiluted acetic acid is formed by mixing one part strong acetic acid with foui 

p .rts water.) Let the preparation stand for the space of a fortnight; pom 

iff the clear liquor, and run it through fine linen and it will be fit for usf.. 

• All cathartics have a sedative effect. 



260 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

Spirits camphor, ... . . 2 ounces. 
Tincture of Indian hemp, . . 1 ounce, 
Olive oil, . . 4 ounces. 

Mix ; and lubricate the stiff and painful regions daily, aad oovel 
them with flannel. 

The diet during the inflammatory stage should be light, con- 
sisting of sloppy mashes. Linseed tea, and water acidulated 
with cream of tartar, form the best drink for fever patients. An 
acute case may generally be treated somewhat after this fashion- 
There is, to be sure, much diversity of opinion as regards tho 
means ; for while one recommends us to bleed with one hand an i 
give opium with the other, (by which means the system is pros- 
trated,) another recommends stimulants, to exalt the circulation, 
and thus secure its equilibrium, so that there shall be no excess 
of blood in any part ; a third advocates cold water ; and a fourth, 
homoeopathy. Finally, in many cases the subjects get well with- 
out one particle of medicine. The physician who ht«s studied his 
profession with care will know when to give and when to with- 
hold medicine : at all times he should endeavor to see how little 
medicine he can get along with, for by so doing he studies the 
interests of all concerned. 

The diagnostic symptoms of acute rheumatism are, great pain 
elicited by pressure or motion ; swelling of the limb or body, as 
the case may be ; febrile symptoms are present ; some thirst ; the 
urine has a very pungent odor ; the pulse is full and hard, and 
peristaltic action is slow. Some other portions of the case de- 
serve notice. The disease occurs very suddenly in subjects not 
far advanced in years ; there are regular periods in the course of 
the twenty-four hours, from day to day, when the patient will be 
worse. In the human subject, night is the period when the pains 
end fever are greatest ; and in four-footed subjects, confined in ill- 
ventilated stables, we have noticed the same thing ; yet in many 
cases the disease leaves the subject very suddenly, or migrates to 
other tissues, so that this feature is not so persistent as in man. 
The disease has, to our certain knowledge, gravitated to the feet ; 
it is then called acute laminitis — another name, iu a majority of 
cases, for fuunder in its acute stage. 

The diagnostic symptoms, when the heart becomes affected, are, 
palpitation, difficult breathing, and great c^piesdion. These 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 26J 

symptoms are to be met by saline medicines and counter ir- 
ritants 

CHRONIC RHEUMATISM. 

Chronic rheumatism is occasionally a sequel to the acute form { 
yet it may come on without any previous perceptible acute attack, 
and entirely independent of it. The principal difference between 
Ibis and the acute disease lies in the less activity of the attack 
and inflammatory fever, and the indefinite duration of the symp- 
toms : the lameness is not persistent, but goes off after exercise, 
and returns again while the animal is at rest. 

As regards the Causes of this Malady. — It is known to be of 
hereditary origin ; sometimes arising in a sort of spontaneoua 
manner, without any assignable cause : it frequently follows hard 
driving, exposure, and chilling the surface with cold water. 

Horses, after having been driven a long distance, sometimes 
come into the stable in a very exhausted state, and instead of 
rubbing them dry, clothing them with a warm blanket, and pay- 
ing that attention to them which their circumstances demand, they 
are suffered to drink cold water, driven perhaps into a cold corner 
of a stable, neither wind-tight nor water-proof; the legs are 
sluiced with cold water to clear them of mud, and the knight of 
the stable, a humane man perhaps, out of charity for the poor 
"devil," gives him a double allowance of food just at the very 
time when the digestive organs are unequal to the task. Next 
morning, on attempting to back the horse out, his fore, and some- 
times the hind, limbs are as stiff as a poker. " My horse is foun- 
dered," exclaims the owner — a term very expressive of the ruined 
cond r tion of the poor brute. The founder, or rheumatism, which- 
evei the reader pleases to call it, may finally locate on the 
muscles of the shoulders and fore extremities, or it may run to 
ihe feet, and there spend its fury, in the form of laminitis, — in- 
flammation of the laminae of the feet: this finally becomes 
chronic; produces atrophy — a wasting of the muscles. The horse 
is then said to be foundered in the chest. When the disease 
locates and remains within the horny covering of the foot during 
its several stages, and finally leaves the foot in r contracted, ruined 
condition, the horse is said to be foundered in the feet. We do 



262 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

not mean to give the reader an idea that all cases ol larninitis 
arise in this way, for it is known to be the sequel, through a pro- 
cess termed metastasis, to diseases of the respiratory and othei 
organs. 

With regard to the treatment of chronic rheumatism, tha\ 
which is known to be the sequel of the acute kind, without swell- 
ing, going off by exercise, and attended by a sort of chronic fever. 
This form is always benefited by the warm bath, and if a steam- 
ing apparatus could be brought into requisition in such cases, w*» 
could reckon with some degree of certainty on a cure. Cold 
water, and even a cold, moist atmosphere, only aggravate the 
malady ; the patient must be placed in a moderately warm box 
stall, and have the benefit of local warm water bandages, followed., 
in some cases, by frictions, with liniment of ammonia and rose- 
mary.* The internal medicine (and we are satisfied this is the 
best) consists of 

Tincture of guaiacum, } 

" " balm of gilead, C of each 2 ounces, 
" " Jamaica ginger, j 

Sirup of garlic, 6 ounces. 

Mix, and give one sixth part of the mixture in a pint of camo- 
mile tea, night and morning. 

This medicine will go the rounds of the circulation, and there 
excite action in the remote parts, differing from the morbid, and 
thus assist in removing the affection. We have found that flan- 
nels saturated with warm vinegar and water, bound on the limbs, 
and occasionally removed, have a beneficial effect. Finally, time 
persevering in the use of simple means, and proper attention to 
diet, will do all that can be expected. 

SrASM OF THE MUSCLES. — (Cramp.) 

Horses, as well as men, are subject to spasmodic affections of 
the muscular system, which sometimes appear and disappear 
with equal rapidity. A horse attacked with cramp ehcwe it ©y 

• Compound Liniment of Ammonia. — Take 

Water or ammonia, .... 2 ounces, 

Olive oil, . . 8 ounce*, 

r 'l. of rosemary, 1 ounce. 

Mix. To be applied by means of a piece of soft flannel. 



THE MOBEKN HORSE DOCTOR. 26? 

oecoming suddenly unable to move the limb, and when compelled 
to step forward, drags the affected part after him. At other timea 
lie is travelling on the road, and becomes, without any warning, 
dead lame, limps or steps short, and after standing a few mo- 
ments, regains the use of his limb, and proceeds onward to tha 
journey's end without a reattach. Horses that have once ha * aa 
attack of this sort are liable to relapses, unless the exciting cau3cs 
be removed. What are the causes ? Some physiologies] 
considerations are necessary in order to understand the sub- 
ject. Every movement of a muscle produces a corresponding 
waste, and thus exhausts the vital principle : the waste must be 
supplied by the blood, and the blood in its turn depends on nu- 
trition. Hence it follows that when a horse is compelled to per- 
form great muscular action, he requires an amount of blood 
equal to the loss sustained ; and that blood has to be manufactured 
in its chemico-vital laboratory, out of a corresponding increase 
of food. But suppose nutrition is perverted, or that the food, 
which in quantity seems sufficient, is deficient in nutrition ; then 
we can perceive how spasmodic affections of the muscles may 
arise, knowing, as we do, that spasm arises from mal-nutrition. 

The cure consists in restoring the tone of the digestive func- 
tion, should it be impaired : a few doses of gentian, ginger, and 
salt, equal parts, will generally answer the purpose. The limb 
may then be rubbed daily with common hartshorn liniment, and 
the cure is completed. 

SPLENT. 

Definition of Splent. — An exostosis — i. e., a callous or 
osseous tumor — growing upon one, or contiguous to one, of the 
splent bones. — Percivatt. 

A splent seldom occasions lameness, except in the primary 
stage of inflammation of the fibro-cartilaginous substance which 
unites the splent to the canon bone ; or, in cases when the splent 
la high up, in close proximity with the carpal bone — (which 
rests on the upper part of the inner small metacarpal) — splent 
Bome times involving more than one of the carpal bones ; and 
from the size of the tumor, it being large, having a very rough 



264 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

Burface. In such cases we may expect lameness ; but it seldom 
lasts long, for the bones soon become anchylosed — glued to- 
gether ; and should the tumor be rough, so as to produce lame- 
ness, there will soon be thrown out on its contiguous tissues a 
fibrous layer, which to some extent prevents friction. This form 
of splent, having eminences, depressions, and a rough, irregulai 
aspect, may be denominated tuberculated splent : it generaJiy 
interferes with the motion of neighboring parts. A splent of 
the circumscribed kind — a tumor about midway between the 
superior and inferior ends of the canon, on the inside — generally 
differs from the above, in presenting a smooth eminence, with a 
well-defined outline, varying in size from that of a bean up to a 
walnut. 

Cause of Splent. — A good deal of speculation is afloat as to 
the cause of splent. We are aware that it may be produced by 
a blow, or injury in the form of sprain. If it come from a blow, 
we should be apt to consider that the animal himself was the 
cause of it, by striking with the opposite foot ; although he gen- 
erally strikes the fetlock, or else the inside of the knee ; but he 
may once in a while have an ill-adapted shoe placed on his 
foot, and then, in consequence of being reined up suddenly, or 
getting one foot into a hole, may, without the knowledge of the 
person riding or driving, inflict a slight blow on the inside of the 
limb, which may prove, in a predisposed subject, the exciting 
cause of this affection. Predisposition may lurk in breed ; and 
from the fact that many animals are now to be met with carrying 
about with them miniatures of ancestral deformity, spavin, ring- 
bone, &c, we may presume that splent, at times, comes under 
this category. 

Treatment. — In the early stages, supposing some inflamma- 
tory symptoms present, we resort to cooling, evaporating lotions : 
these are various. The following will probably answer the pur- 
pose ; we have used it extensively, and found it efficient : — 

Acetic acid, .... .... 2 ounces, 

Water 8 ounces, 

Chloric ether 1 ounce. 

Mix ; take a pad, composed of three or four folds of cotton cloth, 
immerse it in the mixture, place it over the seat of splent, thee 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR ^6& 

eonfine it, so as to produce slight pressure on the tumor, the 
outer bandage to be moistened as often as convenient. Rest at 
this stage is highly important, because the periosteum, or else the 
interosseous fibro-cartilage between the splent and canon, is 
inflamed, and all motion aggravates it. 

In a case of long standing, and even in one having a well- 
marked tumor, stiffness and lameness may be relieved by the 
occasional application of acetate of cantharides. 

Some surgeons blister for the cure of splent ; others saw off 
the tumor ; and periosteotomy has been resorted to in view ol 
cure ; but, unfortunately, splent is no more curable than spavin, 
when once the cartilage has been converted into bone ; and as in 
the majority of cases it is but an eyesore, and detracts but little 
from the value, and still less on the score of usefulness, of the 
horse, it may be well to pause ere we operate for the cure of an 
incurable disease. 



EXPLANATION OF CUTS. 



Cut 1. — Appearance of the hock before dissection and maceration. 
Cut 2. — Appearance of bones composing the hock after maceration. 
1 Os calcis. 

2. Astragalus. 

3. 3. Large and medium cuneiform bones, united to each, other, and coated 
with bony deposit. 

4. 4, 4. Bony prominence, or spavin tumor. 

5. Canon or metatarsus magnus. 

6. Small (inner) metatarsal or splent, the head of which is involved in ossifio 
disease, so as to be immovable. 

7. The articular cartilages being ossified, the canon is united to the Done 
above. The whole surface of diseased parts, as delineated, have a rough, un- 
even, and spongy appearance. This is one of the hocks alluded to in article 
Spavin. The diseased parts were obtained from Messrs. Freeman k Scfttes, 
owners of the horse. 



SPAVIN. 

It is most astonishing that in this age of improvement means 
are not discovered for the prevention of this, one of the most 
common diseases of the horse's hock. It has got to be so com- 
23 



IHE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 




Cut 1. 



ABEARANCE OF THE SPAVIN TUMOR BEFORE Dl£ 
SECTION AND MACERATION 



THE MODJCEJi HOKSii UOCTOK. 267 




CXTT 2. 

APPKARAi :E OF THE SPAVIN TUMOR AFTER DIS- 
SECTION AND MACERATION 



2(33 THE JiODEK>' HORSE DOCTOK. 

mon a disease of late, that if a purchaser finds a horse free frorr. 
blemish of this description, he considers himself fortunate. Bv 
way of showing how little some people think of spavin, the fol- 
lowing incident is related : The author was lately travelling in 
the eastern part of Massachusetts, and had occasion to use a 
team, which was procured at the village stable. The owner kindiy 
consented to drive to our destination, some four or five miles dis- 
tant. During the journey the conversation turned upon horse* 
ology. Our friend appeared to be well posted — knew eveiy 
horse in town, his cost, and present value. We remaiked to 
him that the horse he was then driving had a couple of spavins. 
" 0," exclaimed the man, " that is nothing ; the horses in these 
p.irts are all spavined! " 
" Pray," asked we, " what do you attribute all this to ? " 
" The chief causes are, breeding from old, broken-down, spav- 
ined mares and worthless studs ; and permitting the foal to run 
by the side of its mother while she is in harness." 

Our own experience has taught us to look in this direction for 
the causes ; and we feel assured that if breeders would be more 
particular in the choice of both sire and dam, and leave the colt 
at home, instead of trotting it to market, by the side of the 
mare, — as is the fashion in the country, — and also pay attention 
to the conditions which the law of physiology imperatively de- 
mands for the maintenance of health and vigor, then there would 
be few spavined horses. Here, then, is where our preventive 
measures must commence ; for as sure as " like begets like," so 
sure are spavins transmitted from parents to offspring. Not that 
we would have the reader suppose that every case of spavin is 
brought about in this way, or that every case is transmissible; 
for we know that hard work on our paved streets must tend to 
inflame the inter-articular cartilages between the small bones of 
I he hock ; and this inflamed, bruised state of the parts may be 
considered the primary stage of spavin. Concussion on pave- 
ments, when the horse is in the act of drawing heavy loads, has 
much lo do with the production of spavin ; still, in the country, 
where there are no pavements, we find the most spavined horses. 
How shall we account for this ? It seems very probable that 
great muscular exertion, in drawing a load up hill, or, in tact, 
descending a slope rapidly with a load, may overtax the hga 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 269 

mentary tissues ; and especially so in cases where there is some pre- 
disposing taint lurking in the system : so that there are various 
causes for spavin. Our views of the cure of «pavin — that is, if 
anchylosis can be considered in the light of a cure — are, that, in 
order to render the animal capable of future usefulness, we must 
follow in the path of nature, and aid her. For example, on 
discovering a horse lame in the hock, having the usual symptoms 
of spavin in its incipient stage, we should release him from 
labor, or even turn him out to grass, thus, to some extent, guard- 
ing against the irritation and inflammation which usually follow 
hard work ; for we know that in the early stage of the disease 
inflammatory action is active, and that hard labor and use of 
the joint must aggravate it ; therefore any measures that are 
taken, calculated to control or lessen pain and irritation, must 
prove beneficial. By such means we place the patient in the 
most favorable position for nature to perform a cure (anchylosis) 
in her own time, and after her own fashion. 

Some people have an idea that nothing short of firing or blis- 
tering can be of any benefit ; yet experience has shown that the 
practice is unsatisfactory, as the reader will perceive on consult- 
ing English authority. The fact of a few horses having been 
restored after the application of the hot iron or blister is not 
proof positive of its efficacy ; for, as we have said before, both 
horses and men will sometimes get well in spite of all we can do 
to prevent them. We have succeeded in rendering horses as free 
from lameness by mild means, as, we think, can ever be accom- 
plished by the scientific, yet barbarous mode of fire and blister, 
Our general advice is, during the inflammatory stage, let the ani- 
mal have rest, and apply cooling, evaporating lotions to the parts. 
Oui usual remedy in this stage is 

Muriatic acid, 4 ounces, 

Water, 2 quarts, 

Tincture of bloodroot, .... 6 ounces. 

Applied daily by means of a sponge. 

Another equally useful remedy may be thus prepared: Tak( 

Strong acetic acid, 4 ounces, 

Water, 1 quart, 

Proof spirit, 2 ounces, 

Common salt, 3 ounces 

Mix. 

23* 



ill THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

C *ur usual mode of application is as follows : Take a piece ol 
=po "vge, slightly concave, corresponding as near as possible to the 
fori \ and size of the hock ; by means of a few stitches, affix two 
pieces of tape or linen, so as to form an X; each piece must be 
long enough to encircle the joint two or three times; after dip- 
ping the sponge in the mixture, it must be applied to the inside 
cf the hock, and there secured, and afterwards kept constantly 
cioist. By a faithful application of the above, the inflammatory 
symptoms (which are not confined to the joint alone, but prevail 
in the surrounding tissues) will soon subside, and anchylosis pro- 
gresses in a slow, yet favorable manner, without the usual pain 
and irritation. 

Much of the lameness in spavin arises in consequence of the 
tumefied state of the ligamentary and sub-cellular tissues around 
the joint. We knew a horse, some time ago, that was regularly 
worked on the lead of a city truck, he being the subject of spavin 
on both tarsal joints, which were enormously swollen ; and any 
person not acquainted with the nature of the case would suppose 
that the bulk of the enlargement was of a bony character, it 
being dense, hard, and unyielding. On dissection, however, the 
bulk was the result of a general thickening of all the parts in tin 
vicinity of the hock ; the exostosis, or bony enlargement, was but 
trifling, and the tarsal bones — composing the hock — were in a 
perfect state of anchylosis. (See cuts of spavin.) The animal, 
up to the period of his death, was considered "a very lame 
horse." Now, the lameness must have been of a ligamentary 
character, and not bony nor cartilaginous ; for the bones were 
united as firm as a rock, leaving not the least trace of inter- 
articular cartilage. 

In our collection of morbid specimens can be seen two excel 
lent specimens of spavin, taken from a horse formerly the prop- 
erty of a teamster doing business in Boston. The owner informed 
uh that at the age of eight the horse showed symptoms of spavin ; 
.ie was immediately taken from work, and for upwards of a year 
was permitted to lead a life of comparative rest in the country, part 
>f the time at grass j the remainder was spent in barn and yard life. 
During this time, he was more or less lame ; yet nothing, by way 
of treatment, was done for him, except nil occasional dash of cold 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTC R. 271 

u r ater on the diseased joints. The horse, on being put to work, 
showed little more than the usual stiffness consequent on anchy- 
losis, — which had probably then taken place, — and he continued 
to perform daily labor for the space of eleven years, and died at 
the age of nineteen, of congestive pneumony. The important 
features in the case are, that there was less of lameness, tumefac- 
tion, and bony enlargement than we ever remember to have seen ; 
and this favorable result was, no doubt, brought about by the rest 
and cold water treatment. The owner of this horse wa° u dsad 
set * against firing and blistering, had no faith in the curability of 
epavin, and still less in " meddlesome medication," as he termed it 
If the cure of spavin, then, consists — as we are told it does by 
some of our employers — in merely freeing the horse from lame- 
ness, so that the owner may get rid of him without much loss, or 
if the animal shall be restored to his former usefulness, yet still 
having an enlarged hock (an eyesore) and a little stiffness of the 
joint, — all this can easily be accomplished by promoting anchy- 
losis.* We shall be told that these are no cures at all. We 
have examined several of these wonderful cures wrought by the? 
firing iron, and find that they all amount to about the same thing. 
For if any of our professional brethren ever cured a case of 
anchylosis, which is often a concomitant of spavin, we should like 
to know it. Sir A. Cooper has pronounced it positively incura- 
ble. In fact, partial anchylosis is a desirable event in the treat- 
ment of spavin, and one which we always endeavor to induce. 
If a horse happens to have an enlargement on the inside of the 
hock, and goes a little lame, which he is very apt to do under the 
circumstances, it is set down as a spavin ; and the poor brute, if 
he were put into the hands of a humane man, who would prob- 
ably give him rest, and perhaps foment the limbs, would soon 
recover from the imaginary spavin. But it often happens that 
with the very best intentions on the part of the owner, the patient 



* Anchylosis. This denotes an intimate union of two or more bones whiclr 
were naturally connected by a movable kind of joint. All joints originally de- 
jigned for motion may become anchylosed ; that is, the heads of the bone? 
forming them may become so consolidated together that no degree of motion 
whatever can take place. In such cases the interarticular cartilages are ab- 
lorbed, or b^conc* ossified (changed into bone.) 



272 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

is handed over to his tormentors. Who are his tormentors ? 
They are not men who have devoted a great portion of their 
lives to the study of this truly valuable and important branch of 
3cience ; for if they were, they would not make such a gross 
mistake as that alluded to. But the very converse of this is the 
truth, and such will be the case until the American people shall 
educate our young men, and qualify them to practise, on correct 
principles, the veterinary art. 

However well qualified, by observation and experience, the 
la'ter class of men may be to prescribe for simple forms of dis- 
ease, they cannot be trusted to perform an operation, one of the 
most difficult and dangerous, and one that requires a knowledge 
of anatomy and physiology, in order to first diagnose it with any 
degree of accuracy. Surely, when men unacquainted with the 
mechanism of a joint undertake to restore it to a healthy state by 
means of agents whose action is to them unknown, then their 
weapons are like a sword in the hands of a madman. It is a 
consolation, however, to us, and also to every friend of humanity, 
to know that the veterinary honors have, in a great majority of 
cases, been forced on this class of practitioners, and that they 
are willing to relinquish them so soon as the legitimate candidates 
make their appearance. 

We repeat, then, that spavin cannot be radically cured ; for if 
anchylosis is induced, the joint is still in an abnormal state. The 
cartilages,* (between the bones,) which, in their healthy state, 
yield to chemical analysis one third their weight of bony matter, 
are now turned wholly into bone ; therefore they cannot be 
restored to their elastic condition. 

If spavin exists in the form of periosteal t exostosis,J then we 
think that, by exciting absorption, the deposits might be got rid of. 

• These are placed on the surfaces of bones, on their movable artioiaations, 
*nd not only serve as a cushion, to prevent concussion, but also to facilitate 
motion, and connect bones together. 

t From periosteum, a membrane which covers the bones. It is very strong 
composed of nines, highly organized, having numerous arteries, veins, nerves, 
and absorbents. 

+ Periostea/ exostosis. Sir A. Cooper defines this to be a bony deposition 
buated between the external surface of the bone and the internal surf;' :e of th« 
periosteum, and firmly adherent to both. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 27i 

Almost all the veterinary surgeons of the ol/l w orld have re- 
sorted to the firing iron or blister for the cure of spavin ; the 
cure, however, we contend, is only imaginary. The restoration 
of the horse to comparative usefulness is the object, and thai 
does not always follow ; yet, in justice to those whose position 
and long experience entitle them to the confidence of the world, 
we are constrained to acknowledge that their practice is often 
accompanied with astonishing success. The practice of fit ing s 
however, we do seriously oppose ; it is a barbarism that should 
long since have been discontinued. We never performed the 
operation but once, and have ever since been sorry for it. 

As to blisters, we regard them in the light of a last resort , 
yet, when applied understandingly, we are not sure that it would 
be good policy to oppose their use ; for they are used by human 
practitioners in urgent cases with marked success. Cases are 
constantly occurring in large cities, in which, for several reasons, 
it is our duty to hurry the process of anchylosis, and thus put the 
subject into working condition in less time than by the ordinary 
method of nature ! The remedy in this view is acetate of can- 
tharides, applied occasionally, so as to keep up an active state 
of inflammatory action, by which means the usual transforma- 
tions are effected. The remedy is contra-indicated in all cases 
of high inflammatory action, attended with heat, pain, and un- 
usual lameness : these states are to be subdued by the usual re- 
frigerating and anodyne lotions, ere we resort to any preparation 
of cantharides. The above preparation does not produce so 
much pain or irritation as a common blister. 

Nature and Seat of Spavin. — Spavin is a compound of two 
diseases, known as exostosis and anchylosis : the former signifies 
hypertrophy of bone, (hyperostosis,) — morbid enlargement •, 
anchylosis signifies stiff joint — absorption of inter-articular cai • 
tilage and substitution of bone. Anchylosis, however, does ncl 
take place in what is properly understood as the hock joint, com- 
posed of the tibia and astragalus — although a very common oc- 
currence in the human subject ; but it generally occurs beneath 
the true join!:, within its collateral or inferior articulations, knowr 
as the tarsal bones. Spavin, therefore, may commence in exos- 
tosis and end in anchylosis, and vice versa. The seat of spavin, 



274 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

then, is on the inside of the hock, in the region of the tarsju 
bones, and beneath the trie joint, from which point it may both 
spread and acquire magnitude. Hypertrophy, or enlargement 
of the bone beneath the tarsal articulations, occurring on the up- 
per part of the canon, does not constitute spavin : in England 
such an enlargement is denominated "a jack." 

As regards the Cause of Spavin. — From what has preceded, 
Urs reader will see that it has two origins: 1. Hereditary. 
2, Exciting. 

1. Hereditary Predisposition. — Facts have proved conclu- 
sively that spavin, as well as predisposition — morbid tendency — 
lo the same, is transmitted from parents to offspring. It is prob- 
able, however, that predisposition is more frequently transmitted 
than actual disease; for the latter does not make its appearance 
so early as it otherwise would were it transmissible. Spavin is 
not peculiar to colthood, but to adult life, and even then can often 
be traced partly to an exciting cause — strain, injury, over-work, 
&c. Predisposition may not always have an hereditary origin ; 
still it will not differ in its mode of action from the former ; for 
all predisposing causes produce in the economy certain changes 
which may be said to prepare it for disease ; and, therefore, pre- 
disposition, whatever its source, may be considered as the incu- 
bative stage of disease. 

2. Exciting Causes are those from which this disease seems 
to have direct origin — such, for example, as strain, injury, over- 
work, &c. ; yet these fail to produce spavin in a great majority 
of cases; in confirmation of which we have only to look into the 
history of our truck horses, particularly those used for seveial 
years in the shafts. The herculean strength necessary to back a 
load which requires the united strength of two or three to draw 
would, one would think, be likely to produce spavin ; yet a great 
proportion of such are exempt from this disease ; therefore we 
may infer that exciting causes are in some cases inoperative, un- 
less conjoined with predisposition. 

Symptoms of Spavin. — Unfortunately for the poor brute, 
lameness is not generally of that character which incapacitates 
him for work ; and thus he is urged to the performance of his 
duties, the disease progiessing, and his sufferings increasing 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 27A 

cntil the owner sees that the lameness is not to be driven off! 
The generality of non-professional men ar^ unwilling to believe 
in the existence of spavin, unless they can both see and feel it, 
and are therefore more prone to refer primary spavin lameness tc 
some other joint, until, after a few months of intermittrnt lame- 
nes;, they are, by ocular demonstration, convinced. 

Spavin commencing in inter-articular cartilage is not demon* 
ittable in this manner ; there is no circumscribed tumor, nor ir- 
regularity ; our diagnosis must, therefore, be made up from the 
iigns revealed — from the heat and tenderness about the part, 
of a sub-acute character — from the absence of tumor — from 
the manner of catching up the limb — and from the intermitten' 
nature of the lameness, which is progressive, yet fluctuating. 
The history of the case, also, must be considered. If a sort of 
irregular lameness has existed for some months, referable to no 
other joint than the hock, and the difficulty has of late gradually 
increased, so that the joint appears stiff, all doubts are set aside, 
for anchylosis is hastening towards completion ; after which we 
may expect to observe a tumor on the inside of the hock. A tu- 
mor once formed in the region already referred to needs no wise 
man iu point it out ; it can be both seen and felt ; and this, accom- 
panied with hock lameness and ligamentary tumefaction, is the 
diagnostic symptom of spavin in its exostotic stage. 

BOG SPAVIN. — (Enlarged Bursa Mitcosne.) 
BLOOD SPAVIN. — (Local venous Congestion.) 

Bog spavin is the term usually given to enlarged mucous cap- 
lules, or to a distended state of the sub-cutaneous veins in the re- 
gion of the hock. In the latter case it is termed blood spavin. 
It will be seen, on referring to article Spavin, that the above 
abnormal states bear no resemblance to the latter ; therefore the 
term is misapplied, and should not be made use of by any per- 
son professing veterinary knowledge. Enlarged mucous cfipsulfy 
in the one case, and local venous congestion in the other, are 
significant terms, and by them we understand the uature of the 
ease, and also by what means they are to be treated. 

The remedies for enlarged mucous capsules are, in the early 



276 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

stage, cold water and refrigerating lotions : in the latter stages- 
strong infusion of bayberry bark ; and lastly, brandy and salt, per- 
severingly applied. Congestion may be treated in the same 
manner, aided by friction. 

WINDGAIJiS. — {Enlarged Bursa Macosa.) 

The bursal capsules located just above the fetlock, as well as 
in the vicinity of the hock, secrete a synovial fluid, corresponding 
to what some persons term "joint oil" the use of which is to 
facilitate m ition. In cases of this character, either the walls of the 
capsule are hypertrophied — augmented in bulk — or the syno- 
vial secretion is inordinate, or else its flow is obstructed. Coun- 
ter-irritation, bandage, friction, and regular exercise are the best 
remedies, and yet they often fail to rtmove the eyesore. 



EXPLANATION OF CUT. 



1. Superior pastern. 

2. Inferior pastern. 

3,3. 4,4. The joint anchylosed — immovable. 

5. The bony tumor, extending laterally, and diffusing itself in front Cff 
the joint. 



RINGBONE. 

Definition. — Ringbone is a bony tumor — - exostosis — situ- 
ated on or in the vicinity of the pastern bone, frequently ending 
in anchylosis of the pastern joint. Seme very curious notions are 
entertained of the nature of ringbone. As an example, a lute 
writer in New England tells us that ringbone is fed by a bladder 
situated at the posterior parts of the tumor, and recommends for 
its cure the extraction of this bladder. This erroneous v'cw o<* 
the matter would not amount to much, only it has led to the in- 
fliction of a useless and cruel operation, which only tends to m> k<< 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



27 r ; 




RINGBONE AND ANCHYLOSIS 



278 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

bad worse, and exhibit its advocates in the light of barbarians 
It is not enough, forsooth, for the poor subject of ringbone to 
Buffer the excruciating torment attending tendinous, ligamentous^ 
or periosteal inflammation and ossification, but he must, in addition, 
bo compelled to submit to atrocities unheard of in the history of 
human medicine, and for which the veterinary science of the 
present day furnishes no authority, but, on the other hand, one of 
'universal disapprobation. It has been our painful duty, occa- 
sionally, to take in charge subjects that have been most shame 
fully maltreated for the cure of ringbone. One case, which we 
can never obliterate from memory, happened to a poor aged ani 
mal, that for a long period had been a faithful slave to his master 
For many years he had been the subject of this disease, and his 
owner had long since given up all hopes of cure, till, at length, 
one of those exotic, pestiferous specimens of inhumanity, termed 
horse doctors, — but who have no more claim to the title than a 
maniac or a wild Indian, — undertook, for the sum of jive dollars, 
to cure an hereditary incurable disease. The owner, through 
the deceptive arguments of the barbarian, consented to an opera- 
tion, which for cruelty would have outdone an inquisitor. It 
consisted in cutting through the integuments down to the bones, — 
for both hind legs were operated on ; a red-hot iron was then 
freely used over the exposed surfaces ; some oil of turpentine 
then being poured into the horrid wounds, it was set on fire ; and 
thus the brutal operation terminated. What a pity the horse had 
not the power to make his tormentor exchange places with him, 
and pay him in his own coin! The disease was not benefited by 
the operation, as any veterinary surgeon, had he seen it, would 
liav3 foretold ; the case being one, not only of common ringbone, 
! nt also anchylosis of the pastern and coronet joint. Without 
occupying the reader's attention any longer in this direction, we 
shall at once proceed to causes of ringbone, its nature and treat' 
ment. 

Causes of Ringbone. — We have no better authority on thii 
subject than our oft-quoted Percivall, who teaches that there are 
"three kinds of causes — hereditary, structural, and incidental." 
Our attention was first drawn to the hereditary origin of ring- 
bone from a remark made by an extensive dealer \u horses, in 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 27'j 

reply to a question put to him, how it happened that but a few 
ringbones were now met with, compared to the number that at 
tracted notice in times past. The reply was, " Because nc 
breeder of horses nowadays will send a mare to a horse having 
ringhones." (A very good example for American horse-breed- 
ers to follow.) There appeared something like reason and truth 
in this ; and we felt more inclined to attach faith to it, when 
we came to read in Sollysell's work, " The ringbone is soine- 
times hereditary; though it is usually occasioned by a strain 
taken in curvetting, bounding turns, and violent galloping or 
racing." 

u That form, as well as breed, is concerned in the production of 
ringbone, we have sufficient living demonstration. A coarse or 
half-bred, fleshy, or bony-legged horse, with short and upright 
pasterns, is, we have observed, the ordinary subject of disease ; 
and there exist satisfactory reasons why we should expect him 
to be so. The pastern and coffin bones constitute the nethermost 
parts — the pedestals — of the columns of bones composing the 
limbs ; and being so, they receive the entire weight and force 
transmitted from above. The pastern, when long and oblique in 
position, receives the superincumbent weight in such an indirect 
line, that, bending towards the ground with the fetlock, nothing 
like jar or concussion follows. The very reverse of this, how- 
ever, happens every time the foot of a limb, having a short and 
upright pastern, comes to the ground. In it, instead of the weight 
descending obliquely upon the sesamoids, and the fetlock bending 
therewith, it descends direct, or nearly so, upon the pastern, 
making this bone entirely dependent upon the bone beneath it — 
the coffin — for counteracting spring ; and should any thing occur 
to destroy or diminish this spring, or to throw more weight, or 
sudden weight, upon the coffin bone, than it can counteract, jar 
of the whole apparatus ensues, and an effort of nature to strength 
en the parts, by investing them with callus and ossification, is 
likely to be the ultimate result. For we would view ringbone, 
disease though it most assuredly must be called, as frequently, in 
young horses, a resource of nature whenever the [pastern] bones 
are found unequal to the exertions or efforts required of them.'' 

Hie excitirg Causes of Ringbone. — " These may be said to 



28C THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

consist in any acts or efforts of speed or strength productive oi 
uoncussion to the bones of the pastern. Some have ascribed th« 
presence of ringbone to bloivs. Undoubtedly, a blow upon a bone 
would be very likely to produce exostosis; but the pastern, the 
hind pastern in particular, is rather an unlikely part to be struck. 
After inflammation from any cause, even after that produced by 
a common blister, very often we know an enlargement of the 
pastern will be left; and though this is not called ringbone, it 
may be regarded as something very analogous to it." 

Nature of Ringbone. — " Ringbone is but a species of exos- 
tosis — a bony tumor, which in one situation constitutes ring- 
bone, in another splent, it, another spavin ; yet the three differ 
as well in their origin as in their effects. Ringbone has an ex- 
ternal origin ; and though it may, from spreading, interfere with 
the motion of a joint, still it does not, that we know of, produce 
any affection of the synovial membrane ; spavin, on the con- 
trary, seldom confines itself to the external or ligamentary tis- 
sues, but affects the synovial membrane as well ; and splent 
originates in the very joint — the jibro-cartilaginous — which il 
afterwards blocks up and grows from. 

" Ringbone is either a ligamentary or a periosteal affection, or 
both. From the situation in which we commonly find it, and 
from the causes which are known to give rise to it, we believe it 
usually to be ligamentary in its beginning ; though, when once 
formed and given to spread, no tissue, save the tendons, escapes 
conversion, to contribute to the osseous mass ; and even the ten- 
dons themselves have been known to become partly ossified. In 
fact, when the exciting cause has been great, or when there 
exists an evident proneness in the constitution to ossific action, 
such is the extensive and varied form ossification takes on, that 
we can hardly say when it will end, so long as any soft tissues 
jet remain to be converted. Writing in the year 1823 en this 
subject, with a hundred and fifty morbid specimens of the kind 
upon the table before us, we find we were led at the time to make 
the following remarks : — 

'"By far the most common seats of [ossific] disease are the 
pastern, coronet, and colli n bones. Out of the said hundre 1 and 
fifty specimens there are 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 281 

I of complete anchylosis of the fetlock joint, 
40 do. do. of the pastern joint, 

18 do. do. of the coffin joint. 

The others are either simply incrusted, more particularly around 
their extremities, with layers of new bone, or are variously de> 
formed by exostosis of different shapes, many of which are very 
large, and several of them confined to one side. Upon one ol 
!he pastern bones a complete osseous ring is formed, the resuli 
of ossification of the flexor perforatus tendon. In nearly all, the 
disease appears to have taken its rise at, and to have spread from, 
the pastern joint; there being but few specimens in which some 
osseous accretion is not observed around the lower end of the 
pastern bone and the upper one of the coronet bone ; which is 
the kind of deposition that gives rise to ringbone.' " 

Treatment of Ringbone. — The old method of treating exos- 
tosis by fire and blister is fast giving way to a more rational 
procedure. It has been discovered that there is not really any 
cure for this malady, more than there is for spavin : if we can 
relieve the horse from lameness, that is all that can be expected 
of us ; but even then the disease is not cured — an eyesore still 
remains, and perhaps a stiff joint. We treat the disease, when 
first discovered, just as we would a recent splent or spavin — by 
cooling, evaporating lotions, cold water bandages, &c. ; rest, too, 
so much disregarded by physicians, and not mentioned by some 
veterinary authors, is of some importance. Human practitioners 
realize how much is gained by their patients, when laboring 
under diseases of the joints, by strict attention to rest ; for by 
that means inflammatory action is kept within bounds. To con- 
trol inflammatory action, and by that means lessen pain and irri- 
tation within or around a joint, should be our first business : from 
this we have seen great benefit derived. Our business as phy- 
sicians is to follow in the footsteps of nature, and observe by 
what means she repairs injuries and performs her cures. We 
shall find that her cure of spavin and splent consists of anchy- 
losis ; all that she requires for it is rest : if any thing more 
be needed, it is revealed to her handmaid, the physician. The 
parts are hot and inflamed; cooling applications are needed; 
now they are cok 1 and inactive ; warmth, moisture, and perhaps 
24 * 



282 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR 

stimulants are indicated ; and so on to the end. It the physician 
has learned to interpret the language of nature, he is indeed hei 
handmaid. In the case of hip disease occurring in children — the 
natural cure of which is anchylosis — physicians enjoin rest, which 
favors union of the diseased bones. If such means favor anchylosis 
in the human subject, we cannot dispense with them when treat- 
ir g the horse. The author has tried such means, and is satisfied 
that he is on tne right track. In all cases, then, of early disease 
of this character, whether it be periosteal, bony, cartilaginous, 
fibrous, or muscular, cooling lotions, fomentations, light diet, and 
rest are the means most calculated to do good, whether the in- 
tentions of nature are anchylosis or not. In chronic cases we 
use acetate of cantharides, applied daily, until the parts appear 
hot and tender ; we then substitute cold water bandages, and 
repeat the process if necessary. 

STRAIN OF JOINTS OR MUSCLES. 

What we understand by strain is a common wrench, stretching 
a fibre, tendon, or ligament beyond its physiological capacity, 
with or without extravasation of blood, generally followed by 
pain, lameness, and sometimes deformity. In human practice, 
the word sprain is u.?ed to signify an incomplete luxation, accom- 
panied with stretching, and more or less laceration of the liga- 
ments of a joint, and sometimes with rupture of a tendon. Both 
terms appear to apply to the same state ; yet, as strain is the 
word generally used in horse practice, we prefer it to the other. 
A strain in the horse is a very different affair from what it is ir 
man; for rest — which is the principal means of cure — cannot 
be insured ; when the patient, instead of cooperating with us in 
keeping the limb quiet, often keeps it in constant motion, thus 
counteracting our best methods of cure. Then, again, if a man 
sprains a wrist or ankle, he immediately adopts the best method 
of cure, and keeps the limb quiet until the infiammatory symp- 
toms have subsided. But strain occurring in a horse is not 
thought much of by the majority of horsemen ; and therefore 
the services of a physician are not called in until the horse is m 
van c us a kitten. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 28? 

The treatment of common strain, if seen early, is a very sim- 
ple affair, and may be conducted somewhat after the following 
manner : Take tincture of arnica and pure water, equal parts 
bathe the parts in a thorough and careful manner, and apply a 
cold water bandage, and continue the treatment until relief is 
obtained : in cold weather, the wet bandage must be covered witb 
dry cloths, or packed. 

STRAIN OF THE FETLOCK. 

Strain of the fetlock is frequently occasioned by bending the 
joint in a lateral direction, and injuring the capsular ligaments of 
the joint. Lateral motion in these joints is very limited ; there- 
fore, if a horse treads on a round body, or gets his foot in a hole, 
and the strain comes upon the side of the joint, lameness is gen- 
erally the result. 

Treatment. — If a loss of continuity has taken place in any of 
the tendons or ligaments, a starcli bandage must be applied, in 
the form of figure 8. If it is nothing but a sprain, the cold water 
bandage may suffice. Any morbid habit, however, must be sub- 
dued by alterative medicine. See Alteratives. 

STRAIN OF THE KNEE. 
Treatment. — The same as in strain of the fetlock. 

STRAIN OF THE COFFIN JOINT. 

Treatment. — Rest, cold water applications, cooling medicine, 
and light diet. 

STRAIN OF THE BACK. 

Strain in the back or lumbar region arises from causes very 
evident to those who pay any attention to the anatomical struc- 
ture of the horse. Considering the heavy loads he is often com- 
pelled to carry or draw, it is astonishing that he should be so 
free as he is from lameness in the back. The diagnostic 
symptoms of this form c * strain are, pressure over the "nmbai 



284 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

region elicits symptoms of pain ; the part feels hot ; and the horse, 
when compelled to describe a circle, shows, by the careful mannei 
in which he turns, that it gives him great pain. 

Treatment. — Rest; applications of cold water ; light diet; and 
cream of tartar water as a drink. One ounce of cream of tartar 
to a bucket of water, daily. It was customary, but a few years 
ago, to apply charges, and plasters, to the back, for the cure of 
strain and lameness. But the day of plasters, in human as well 
p.3 veterinary practice, has gone by; they are now only used by 
those who have never taken the trouble to understand the exha- 
latory function of the skin — which salutary function plasters 
obstruct ; the wet sheet next the skin, and a blanket over it, will 
be more likely to do good than a plaster. Should the horse show 
mote than ordinary symptoms of pain, a fomentation of hops 
should be resorted to ; if, after a day or so, the pain is still mani- 
fest, the trouble is something more than mere strain, and the 
owner had better consult a medical man. 

STRAIN OF THE SHOULDER. 

Treatment. — The part must be sponged, two or three times a 
day, with diluted tincture of arnica. In fact, a common strain of 
any part of the muscular system may be treated in the same 
manner ; at the same time attention must be paid to the state of 
the bowels 

THOROUGHPIN. — {Enlarged bursa.) 

Thoroughpin makes its appearance in the form of bursal 
swelling, the fluid of which can be squeezed from one side to the 
Other : it is located in the region of the hock, in a space bounded 
by the os calcis, tendo achillis, and lower end of the tibia. It 
seldom occasions lameness, but is considered a sad blemish ; for 
the removal of which, Mr. Gloag, V. S., recommends acupunc- 
turation and pressure. The following case, from the Veteri- 
na-nan, illustrates his mode of procedure : — 

"July 11, 1850, a chestnut mare, aged four years, admitted 
*ith a large thoroughpin, oif hock. This had existed four or five 
months, and seemed to be increasing in size. It was proposed \A 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 28L 

me that the hock should be extensively fired ; but, instead of sc 
doing, the following plan of treatment was adopted : — 

" I cut a slice transversely, about half an inch in thickness, off 
a large bottle cork, and this was pierced by four common-sized 
darning needles, so that their points projected about half an inch 
from the surface. The cork was used in order to give the needles 
a iiim position, and to admit of the distances of their projecting 
points being graduated according as required. I then plunged 
the needles into the enlarged sac, on each side, which was fob 
lowed by a slight oozing of serous fluid. The hock was after- 
wards ordered to be well fomented. This treatment was daily 
repeated until the 

" 16th, when no particular change had occurred. The opera- 
tion was to be daily continued ; but, instead of fomenting after the 
puncturing, the parts were to be well smeared with an ointment 
composed of hydriodate of potass one part, mercurial ointment 
one part, blister ointment half part, and lard ten parts. 

"25th. The thoroughpin is evidently somewhat reduced. 
After each operation the swelling partly subsides, but subsequently 
fills again. The ointment is occasionally discontinued for a day. 
I was now resolved to try the effect of pressure. For this pur- 
pose I applied a spring truss to the hock, upon the enlarged 
bursa, which was to be daily punctured, as before, with the appli- 
cation of the ointment as often as it could be safely used. After 
the first application of the truss, it was quite astonishing to 
observe the difference in the enlargement, which had become 
quite soft, and evidently showed that its contents would be 
absorbed. The mare wore this truss day and night, and took her 
walking exercise in it daily. I need not follow the case in detail, 
but simply state that, on the 

10th Aug., the enlargement of the hock was almost gone, and 
that, in a very short time afterwards, it became as clean as the 
other joint. The truss was discontinued on the 

" 20th Aug., when the mare was discharged. Up to the presenl 
time there has been no appearance of a return of the affection. 

" Remarks. — This is the fourth case I have treated success- 
fully in this way ; and, from what I hare seen of the plan, I am 
quite satisfied it is extensively applicable. The late Mr. Ions, of 



286 THE MODEKN HOUSE DOOTOK. 

"Waterford, many years ago, was the first person who mentioned 
to me about puncturation with needles : he told me it was a very 
common practice with him. This case, however, did not fullv 
answer my expectation ; and the matter remained unsettled in mv 
mind until I saw in the pages of the Veterinarian a drawing and 
account of a spring truss for the bock, where the two remedies, 
■puncturation and pressure conjointly, struck me as being very 
feasible ; and now I am quite satisfied that they will answer in 
many cases. I do not think that bursal enlargements can with 
safety be opened in any other way than by puncturation with 
needles." 

OPEN JOINT.* 

Open joint, or broken knees, as some term it, is generally occa- 
sioned by falling on them ; open joint, however, is an opening 
into its capsular ligament, which may also be made, by accident 
or design, with any sharp instrument. Cases of open joint very 

* Open Joint. — On page 377, No. 67, third series, London Veterinarian, 
we find a communication from E. Mayhew, (a part of which we submit to the 
reader,) on the treatment of this lesion : — 

" For a long time it occurred to me, that the present treatment of open joints 
was based upon false principles. What could Coleman mean by the free use 
of the budding iron, which he both taught and practised ? In the first place, 
when a knee is opened, the injury does not stop there ; we know little of the 
real state the part will ultimately assume for three days or a week ; we must 
wait till the slough has taken place before we can pronounce a definite judg- 
ment of the extent of the wound ; then applying the hot iron, even supposing 
it upon each application to act as the late professor intended, was merely to 
singe that which must eventually come away. It must, however, be a good- 
sized budding iron, which is to fit the orifice left, after the vast majority )f 
iilcughs have fallen off. But setting aside the folly of that remedy which is 
'A no use when we most require assistance, did it never strike the advrcates 
of ihe iron, that, if it is sometimes reparative, it is more often destructive in its 
agency ? Is it fair or prudent to employ upon other people's property a remedy 
which, if its chance of doing good do not answer, is certain of doing serious 
harm ? Yet I say too much, when I allow it has a chance of doing good. Heat 
in iron to any extent that it may piease the operator, then plunge it into the 
white of a broken egg. Hold it within the substance till the iron cools, or is 
of a dead heat, and then withdraw it. In what condition will the iron be when 
it is taken out ? Yet this is exactly the basis upon which Mr. Coleman used to 
advocate the use of the budding iron. The iron plunged into white of egg 
mil be coated with its coagulation, and the same weapon inserted among 
tynovia will be covered with thr liko product. The substance which was to h«j 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 2*i 

seldom occur ; the horse, in falling on his knees, merely lacerates 
the integuments, and, perhaps, punctures the sheath of the ex- 
tensor tendon which passes over the knee, from whence synovial 
fluid escapes, and this is mistaken for the true joint synovia 
Such an injury, although simple as it may appear, often termi 
nates in anchylosis of the carpal bones. 

Treatment. — Supposing the horse to have just fallen, let tht 
part be cleansed of foreign bodies ; then remove all the pendent 
ekin and clip the hair short, (it is of no use to try to heal by 
Jirst intention — therefore sutures are useless ;) we then ascertain, 
by probe, if the joint be opened; but whether it be so or not, our 
first dressing consists of a pledget saturated with tincture of aloea 
and myrrh, over which apply a cold water bandage. Rest and 
a light diet follow. The dressing is not to be removed until sup- 
puration commences, which will be in the course of two or three 
days ; then cleanse and apply a paste of charcoal and fir balsam, 
and bandage as before. In cases of open joint with profuse dis- 
charge of synovia, add an equal quantity of pulverized bayberry 
bark to the charcoal, and dust the parts frequently with the same, 
without removing the dressing ; for the wound must not be ex- 
posed, unless absolutely necessary. We once cured a rather bad 
case of open joint by covering the chasm with paste formed of fir 
balsam, powdered myrrh, and charcoal ; over this was placed a 
piece of lint, and a nicely-adjusted splint was fixed to the back of 
the knee joint, and over the whole a starched bandage three 
inches wide and five yards in length. 

left behind to serve as a plug will come away, and the injury be aggravated, 
tho bad effects alone being left behind. I know the iron is now recommended 
for small openings alone ; but there may be a small opening in the first instance, 
Mii< h, when the slough takes place, shall prove a large one ; and what can b« 
the srrrics of a remedy which is uncertain in its action, injurious in its appli 
: liiia and which does not provide for the natural after-consequences ? There* 
remains yet another mode of treatment to be mentioned: this consists simply 
in mechanically stopping the flow of synovia, — placing a cork in the orifice, at 
I have heard it elegantly expressed. Now, as open joint is generally accom- 
panied by a lacerated wound, a lacerated wound must close by suppuration 
then, in thus plugging the orifice, they not only prevent the escaj e of synovia 
but at the same time they lam up the pus. It matters not whether lime, cot 
rosive sublimate, compound tincture of aloes, with a pledget of tow and banc 1 
ages, India rubber, or brown paper be used ; the principle is the same." 



288 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 




C ^ D 

Fig. 1. Fig. £. 

APPARATUS FOR DISLOCATION OF THE FETLOCK. 

EXPLANATION OF CUT. 
Fig. 1 represents the outside of a horse's leg, with the apparatus fixed. 

A. One of the supporters of the leg, extending from the ground surface of 
the foot to within a little of the hock, made of stoutish iron, curved and adapted 
to suit the convexity of the fetlock joint; its upper portion, B, being rounded 
and turned downwards, to prevent abrasion, and to form a loop to receive and 
keep a leathern strap in its place ; its lower having a screwed end, which la 
passed through a hole in the projecting portion, C, at the side of the shoe, and 
firmly fixed by means of a nut, D. 

E. A plate of iron, riveted on the supporter, having a convexity on its eztcr 
nal and a concavity on its internal surface, to receive the joint. 

F. A leathern strap, with buckle attached, to be fastened round the leg. 

Fig. 2. 

A, A. rhe corresponding internal Supporter. 

B. The shoe, unattached, showing its two lateral projections, C, C, contain- 
ing holes for the reception of the supporters. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 289 

The bandage remained on for six days ; during which time the 
patient was kept on his legs. On removing the bandage, care was 
taken not to disturb the lint ; some fresh paste was smeared over 
it, and a cold water bandage substituted for one of starch. The 
chasm was finally healed by the use of collodion and fir balsam 
without bandage. 

In slight wounds of the knee, it is sufficient to cleanse the part, 
and wet, occasionally, with arnica — two ounces of tincture to 
one pint of water, accompanied with rest. 



DISLOCATION. 

By dislocation is meant the displacement of a bone from its 
articulating socket. The most common accidents of this charac- 
ter occur in the stifle and fetlock joints, although, excepting the 
elbow and coffin joints, all articulating surfaces in the horse are 
susceptible of dislocation. In this country, very little attention 
has ever been paid to the treatment of either dislocation or frac- 
ture, and, in consequence, very many valuable horses have been 
condemned, or abandoned by their owners for a mere trifle, that 
might have been restored to comparative soundness. Horses 
have been known to recover from dislocation of the spine, shoul- 
der, hip, and we have had several cases of this kind, occurring 
in the stifle and fetlock, that have terminated favorably. 

Dislocation of the Neck, or cervical vertebrae, is occasioned by 
a horse pitching forward, or suddenly falling at a time when his 
head is turned in a lateral direction ; or he may get into what is 
termed an awkward fix, across the stall, or under the manger, 
urable to extricate himself, and thus dislocates the bones of the 
neck. The diagnostic symptoms are, muscular paralysis, unnat- 
uaal curvature of the neck; the head at the same time being 
more or less pendulous, and at a certain point on the convex 
side of the neck will be felt a space and fulcrum >f motion. 

The means of reduction are, warm fomentations to the con- 
cave 6ide of the neck, gradual extension, and manipulation. 
25 



290 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

The extension, however, consists of little else than slowly ana 
steadily turning the head to the central part of the body, while the 
operator presses with one or both knees on the most prominent 
part of the convex angle. The animal is supposed to be down, 
and the ordinary precaution taken to secure his limbs in hob- 
bles or by means of rope. It not unfrequently happens that the 
muscles on the convex side of the neck are lacerated : in that 
case, even after reduction, the neck would still incline to an an- 
gle : to obviate which, a sort of concave splint must be applied 
to the concave side, reaching from the angle of the jaw to tin 
shoulder, being curved and padded at each end, for the recep 
tion of their respective parts, and then confined by rollers 
straps, &c. 

Dislocation of the Shoulder is reduced also by extension and 
manipulation ; but, owing to the shallow cavity of the lowei 
part of the shoulder blade, it is very difficult to retain the parta 
in apposition ; still the animal is not to be sacrificed until means 
have been tried, which are, continual pressure backward on the 
head of the humerus. The diagnostic symptoms are, promi- 
nence of the head of the humerus, and inability to bring the limb 
forward. 

Dislocation of the Hip. — Very little hopes can be entertained 
of reducing so formidable a displacement ; for the head of the 
thigh bone is generally thrown ont of its socket on the pelvis, 
and the abductors exert such a powerful force upward that it is 
almost impossible to counteract them ; still we should not de 
6pair. There is a horse now in existence within a few miles 
of Boston, that, three years ago, slipped on turning a corner, 
and dislocated the thigh bone, the head of which could be dis- 
tinctly seen and felt. The unfortunate subject was carried home 
on a sled ; the owner treated him on the hydropathic principle, 
and left the case to nature, without making any attempts at re- 
duction. At the end of six months, he could hobble along pretty 
well ; all that could be noticed was, a prominence on the hip 
and a shortening of the limb. Up to the present time he has 
gradually improved, so as to become quite useful in doing light 
work The means are simple, and the author has no better to 
offer 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 291 

Dislocation of the Stifle Bone. — If we should believe all the 
stories that are told us of horses having the stifle out, the diiB 
culty would appear to occur very often, which, in fact, is not the 
case. We are frequently called to see horses said to have their 
stifle out, which, on examination, turn out to be sprain of the 
fetlock, or punctured foot. The error arises in consequence of a 
lack of anatomical knowledge ; for the symptoms of each are so 
different that it is almost impossible for a veterinary surgeon 1c 
make su m a gross mistake. The stifle joint is composed of the 
lower end of the femur, upper end of the tibia, and patella, thf 
latter corresponding to the kneepan of man. So soon as the pa- 
tella — stifle bone — is luxated, the horse is unable to advance 
the limb ; it is stiffened and protruded backwards ; and, on ex- 
ploring the region of the patella, it will be found outside the ex- 
ternal condyle of the femur. When the bone is dislocated in 
wards, the limb will be drawn upwards, the animal being unabk 
to rest on it. 

The reduction is effected by bringing the limb forwards and 
upwards, at the same time pressing the patella towards its origi- 
nal position. After the bone has been replaced, it must be held 
there until the muscles have regained some degree of contractility. 
The parts must then be kept wet with cold water, until an infu- 
sion of bayberry or white oak bark can be prepared, which may 
be used pretty freely about the joint for several days. 

Dislocation of the Fetlock. — See cut, p. 288. The author has 
no personal experience in the use of such apparatus delineated 
in the cut ; yet it is spoken highly of by some veterinary surgeons. 

The best method the author knows of for treating dislocation 
of the fetlock is by means of starched bandages. A dislocation 
of this joint is easily detected. Its reduction can be effected by 
any one : a little starch and a narrow bandage, five yards in 
length, are all the appliances needed. Rest, light diet, and atten- 
tion to the patient, complete the cure. 



2i>2 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



IKIftSA&S OF THE SKIN AND SUB-CELLULAR TISSUES. 

GREASE, OR SCRATCHES. 

" The prcvncd of grease is a pretty infallible test of negli 
^ent grooming." — Pcreivall. 

Grease, or what is xaore generally known in the United States 
is scratches, is a disease of frequent occurrence. It probably 
originates, like many oth>r cutaneous affections, in a foul habit 
of body — a retention of morbific materials in the system, or 
more properly speaking, congestion of the superficial capillary 
vessels. The disease is said to be most prevalent in the cold 
months. We know that at thij particular season the function 
of the skin is more or less interrupted ; the insensible transpira- 
tion, being neither so regular ucr profuse as in the warm 
months, must result in an accumulative of excrementitious mate- 
rial ; hence the difficulty. 

The cavity just above the heels of a ?\orse, like that under the 
axilla, or armpit, of man, is furnished with a large number of 
exhalants — secreting and excreting glamh ; and when the ani 
mal is in a state of health, and these vessels in a normal con- 
dition, the moisture (if it may be so termed) keeps the parts 
soft and pliant, lubricates the external surface;?, thus preserving 
them against friction, irritation, and disease ; at the same time the 
system is relieved from the burden of a large amount of morbid 
matter. Sometimes the morbid materials are retained in the 
immediate vicinity of the parts, in consequence of the accumula- 
tion of filth on the surface, or from the chilling influence of a 
draught or cold air on the legs after they have been washed. 

It is well known that variations of temperature always have a 
tendency to disturb, and partially check, the cutaneous exhala- 
tions ; yet they cannot be set down as direct causes of grease, 
though they may be classed among the indirect. 

Mr. Percivall, in his lectures, thus refers to this disease 
u The etiology of grease throws considerable light upon its verita- 
ble nature. Horses which are at pasture or in straw yards — 
in situations, in fact, where heat and cold are not naturally, and 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 29? 

cannot be artificially, made suddenly operative upon the heels — 
raiely have grease. Those that have grease in stables are 
mostly coach and cart horses, with thick, fleshy heels a; id white 
legs ; which are subject to get their heels wet, and do not com- 
monly have such pains bestowed upon them, to dry the legs, as 
hackneys, hunters, and racers have. Indeed, among the latter, 
grease is a very uncommon disease. Such horses also stand in 
efables hot and filthy from dung and urine, the very exhalations 
from the litter of which proves an additional excitement. 

" Grease formerly made great ravages in the English cavalry 
and ordnance service ; whereas at the present day the disease is 
scarcely known. This change for the better is ascribed to three 
causes — to proper ventilation of the stables; the greater atten- 
tion paid to grooming; and to the presence of a veterinary sur- 
geon, who checks, at the onset, such a rasual occurrence." 

Sainbel, who wrote An Essay on Grease, for which he was 
presented with a prize by the Royal Society of Medicine in 
France, thus commences his paper : " Grease is, in general, a 
cutaneous, chronic affection ; sometimes inflammatory, sometimes 
infectious, and I have known it contagious. It invades the legs 
of horses, asses, and mules, but seldom attacks those of the ru- 
minating species. We are told that cow-pock had its origin in 
the transfer of the matter of grease from the heel of a horse to 
the teat of a cow, and that the disease may be communicated to the 
human subject by inoculation with this matter, the same as with 
that taken from the ulcerated teat of the cow. Some have gone 
further than this, and said that glanders and farcy could be gen- 
erated in this way. The accounts of these strange transactions, 
however, have made but little impression ; for we hear nothing 
of them nowadays ; and that is not a very bad criterion of their 
want of truth and foundation altogether. I have heard Pro- 
fessor Coleman say, that there never was a well-authenticated 
case of cow-pock being produced from grease; and I veiily be- 
lieve myself — though I do not know that the fact has been ex- 
perimented on — that there is no truth of its being communicable 
among horses. In certain seasons and situations, the disease is 
certainly sporadic, (affecting a few at any time or season ;) buL 
then, the causes are too manifestly operative among horse! 
25* 



294 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

under the time circumstances, to refer its production to infie ^tion 
cr contagion." 

The reader will perceive from these remarks that proper ven- 
tilation of the stables, good grooming, (which includes care and 
attention to the general management of the animal,) and the 
knowledge obtained of the laws of animal life and the condition? 
requisite for its perpetuity, derived through the medium of the 
veterinary art, are the means of prevention best calculated to 
remedy the evil. 

Symptoms of Chease. — In the early stage of grease, the 
primary symptoms attending common inflammatory affections,— 
viz., heat, tenderness, aud tumefaction — are generally present. 
On applying the hand to the heel and fetlock, the parts will 
be found hot, and, under pressure, the animal will evince signs 
of pain ; the parts hav*' a greasy feel, and the morbid matter, 
which oozes through the tegumentary tissues, has a fetid, un- 
pleasant smell. As the disease progresses, the parts become 
swollen, — infiltrated with serum of a morbid character, — thus 
increasing the inflammatory symptoms, and causing the animal 
much pain, which he usually evinces by occasionally catching up 
the foot, as it is termed. The offensive matter on the surface 6L 
the heels now becomes more profuse ; the hairs stand out hori- 
zontally, and sometimes, even a long time after the animal is 
considered cured, the hair still continues to wear an unnatural 
aspect. This is owing, probably, to the fact that the disease has 
extended to the hair bulbs. When the disease attacks both hind 
legs, the pain is sometimes intense, especially if the horse be 
plethoric, or his system is charged with morbid humors. In the 
latter case, the greasy discharge is very profuse; for the pent-uj 
waste matters have now found an outlet, which, according to 
principles purely hydrostatic, admit of a free discharge of the 
fl uids of the body. 

The symptoms, however, thus far detailed, apply to grease in 
what may be considered a comparatively mild form, as wc often 
observe it in horses used for general purposes in this city. In 
such cat>es, exercise and light work rather tend to lessen the 
swelling and pain than otherwise ; and the patient, after having 
travelled a short distance, under a light load, seems comparatively 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 295 

free from lameness, which, together with oedema, again returns 
after standing a few hours in the stable. If the disease is at this 
stage promptly met with skill in the application of suitable medi- 
cinal agents, it generally yields ; but if neglected, it is very apt to 
assume the form of a pustular eruption, and, subsequently, gran- 
ulating excrescences. 

During the year 1852, a mild form of grease, usually de- 
nominated scratches, has been unusually prevalent in the New 
England States; the subjects of which disease, in a great major- 
ity of cases, were in a state of plethora. In short, there was an 
evident disproportion between the daily allowance of food and 
-»e amount of labor performed, or, in other words, an unequal 
proportion between the oxygen respired and the amount of carbon 
(in the form of food) taken into the system at any giren time. 

Some of these cases yielded very readily to local treatment, 
while others required active general treatment — a purification 
of the fluids and a restoration of the healthy secretions. 

The disease, after having passed the primary stage, as just 
alluded to, assumes a more malignant character. Granulated 
excrescences and an offensive discharge appear. Sainbel com- 
pares such granulations to the " outward coat of a pineapple ; " 
and some call them grapes. The disease at this stage affects the 
general health, more or less ; and the patient has sympathetic 
fever ; the appetite is impaired, and other functions, in a certain 
extent, are perverted. Cases of a very malignant character are 
recorded by veterinary writers; but the disease is so readily 
recognized, even by the merest tyro in veterinary matters, that 
the writer deems it unnecessary to extend these remarks furthei 
than to advise those who wish to perfect themselves in this pecu 
liar branch to consult the works of Mr. Percivall. 

Treatment. — This will depend somewhat on the stage and in 
tensity of the malady, and the state of the patient's health. It is 
worthy of remark, however, that a great change for the better 
has taken place during the past twenty-five years. Among those 
who have been foremost, both by their influence and daily prac- 
tice, in producing so favorable results, stands the name of Mr 
Percivall. In the early period of the history of our art, notwith- 
standing popular prejudice favored the ancient barbarous method* 



i96 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

of cure, this individual advocated a system cf medication tem- 
pered with mercy, instead of barbarity. Let the reader under- 
stand, that, in those times, the most inhuman atrocities were 
perpetrated on the bodies of uncomplaining brutes, and the most 
destructive " remedies " were called into requisition, to fill up the 
measure of their woes ; the law of humanity, as applied to me 
brute creation, was generally disregarded — for it was only until 
cruelty to animals was made a penal offence that the masses 
were restrained in their shameful career of ingratitude. Contrast 
the treatment recommended by this distinguished surgeon with 
that of some others, whose chief agents for the cure of grease 
were, corrosive sublimate, muriatic acid, antimony, lead, &c, and 
we are led to exclaim, that a humane surgeon is more to be 
admired than the hero of a hundred battles. 

In the early stage of disease attention must be paid to diet, 
ventilation, and cleanliness. If the heels are hot and swollen, 
apply the following poultice : — 

Slippery elm, powdered, . . . £ a pound, 
Fine salt, 2 ounces. 

Mix to a proper consistence with hot water, and when cool, 
spread a portion on cotton cloth, and bind it on the parts. 
Should the horse be " humory," or even in " good condition," — 
fat, — a mild cathartic will be indicated, consisting of 

Powdered aloes, 4 drachms, 

" gentian, 2 drachms, 

" ginger, 1 drachm. 

Mix the above (if a ball is required) with honey ; or, if it be 
more convenient to administer a drench, dissolve the mass in one 
pint of warm water, and sweeten with molasses. 

On the other hand, if the horse shall be in poor condition, the 
medicine can be dispensed with, and a generous diet allowed, 
together with a meal of grass occasionally, if the season permits. 
If the patient does not improve in condition, we may infer that 
the disease will not mend until the health is restored ; and ic 
view of accomplishing that object, we recommend 

Powdered gentian, ") 

" sassafras, I 

" sulphur, > . . l.J ounce each, 
ginger, 
Fine salt, . . J 

Oatmeal, . , . . . 1 pound. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 297 

Mix; divide into twelve parts, and give one, in the focd, light 
and morning. In either case, it will not be good policy to continue 
the poultices for any length of time ; for, knowing as we do, from 
actual experience, that warmth and moisture combined, in the 
form of a poultice, are relaxing, and therefore enervating, and 
that grease, in its early stage, is merely augmented issue, the-, 
poultice might have the effect, if repeated, of inviting fluids to 
the parts. Still the ingredients might be so combined as to pos- 
sess astringent properties. The following is an example ; — 

Slippery elm, or flaxseed, . . ad libitum, 
Powdered bayberry bark, ) , . 

charcoal, \ ' ' q P 

Mix. Perhaps, with the addition of a small quantity of salt 
and bloodroot, this poultice would form the most proper one in 
the advanced stage of the disease ; for we are taught that astrin- 
gents have a tendency to suppress the secretion, and 'he discharge 
scmer or later, becomes arrested. After poulticing the parts, as 
the nature of the case seems to demand, we then endeavor to aid. 
nature in her efforts at restoration, both by local and general 
means. If, for example, the heels crack, become dry, hard, and 
contracted, the surface should be smeared over with 

Linseed oil, ^ 

Powdered charcoal, C . . . equal parts. 
" sulphur, ) 

Mix the charcoal and sulphur with a sufficient quantity df oft 
to make it of the consistence of cream, and apply it to the parts, 
with a brush, night and morning. 

The general means imply a restoration of all the secretions and 
excretions, by the use of alteratives. The following is a good 
exampie — 

Powdered sulphur, ") 

" bloodroot, 

" sassafras, > . . . equal parts. 
Cream of tartar, 
Skunk cabbage, J 

Dose, half an ounce, night and morning, mixed with the food. 

There is one remedy which the writer has found well adapteo 
to almost every case of grease, or scratches and it is highly 
recommended by Professor Morton, of the Royal Veterinary 
College. It consists of 



298 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

Pyroligneous acid, } 

Linseed oil, £ . of each equal pai -8. 

Turpentine, j 

Mix; let the heels first be washed with lukewarm water and 

castile soap ; after wiping them dry, apply the mixture. Re* 

peat night and morning. 

In order to keep down morbid granulations — denominated by 

Borne " proud flesh" — the parts maybe sprinkled dail^ with 

one of the following articles : — 

Powdered bloodroot, 
" burnt alum, 

" bayberry bark. 

Put on a good coating of one of the above articles ; cover the 
6ore with dry lint, and apply a bandage over all. It should be 
borne in mind that bandages should always be dispensed with, if 
possible ; for they invariably irritate and inflame whatever parts 
they are applied to. This is owing to the high state of sensi- 
bility in the skin of the horse. 

HARDENING OF THE SKIN. — ( Induration.*) 

Hardening of the skin generally takes place in consequence 
of pressure from some portion of the harness ; it often occurs, 
however, from laceration of the integuments and sub-cellular tis- 
sue ; by the calkings of the animal's shoes ; and we sometimes 
find that it is the result of fungus, or morbid growths, after they 
have been removed by caustics. An excellent application for 
these indurations is, the acetate of cantharides, prepared thus: — 

* Induration is an abnormal increase in the consistence of an organ or part, 
and may exist under various circumstances. It may be owing merely to a de- 
ficiency of blood in a part, in consequence of which its denser particles are 
more closely aggregated, and therefore offer an increased resistance. Theie 
are various parts of the animal structure which are often the seat of indura- 
tion. The lungs, for example, in consequence of previous inflammatory action, 
become hepatized : this is identical with induration, and is owing to the deposit 
and coagulation of that portion of the blood known as fibrin. The liver now 
and then becomes the scat of a fibrinous deposit ; the organ first enlarges, 
but afterwards gradually contracts and hardens : as it is reduced in size, it be- 
comes lard and tough ; here we have schimts of tile liver — induration. Othei 
varieties of interstitial deposit are known to the profession; and the reader, if 
disposed, can also learn what is known of this branch of pathology from stan 
iard works. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOK. 299 

Acetic acid, 1 ounce, 

Water, 5 ounces. 

Pulverized cantliarides, .... 1 ounce. 

Mix ; let it macerate for fourteen days ; then filter througl 
linen or blotting paper, and add one ounce of spirits of wine : it 
is then fit for use. To be applied occasionally, by means of a 
small piece of sponge. 

A preparation which answers the same purpose is composed 
it equal parts of oil of turpentine and olive oil, to be applied 
&s abve. 

MALANDERS AND SALANDERS. 

The above terms are usually applied to scurfy eruptions, 
accompanied with oozing crusts and cracks in the skin, situated 
either in front of the hock or at the posterior part of the knee 
joint. They probably produce some sort of an itching sensa- 
tion ; occasional pain, and even lameness, have been known to 
arise from them. 

The disease is said to arise from long travelling on bad roads, 
want of cleanliness, &c. ; but probably it originates from that 
peculiar state of the system which favors the production of cu- 
taneous diseases.* The disease does not prevail to any great 

* In the treatment of cutaneous affections the reader must always bear in 
mind the fact, that a local disease seldom, if ever, exists long ere the constitu- 
tion suffers; and that almost every case of an eruptive nature is either symp- 
tomatic or sympathetic. But lest we may be charged with uttering sentiment.! 
exclusively our own, we quote from an article on Diseases of tlie Skin, by T. 
Hunt, Esq., F. K. C. S. His extensive practice in the Western Dispensary 
for diseases of the skin entitles his opinions to the highest confidence. 

" * * * A. local disease can so seldom exist per se, independently of some 
lesion of the general system, that to argue ill favor of the constitutional origin 
or nature of any particular local affection, may seem superfluous. If a chili 
Balls into a tub of hot water, the whole surface of the body : s blistered — it la 
a local affection; but how soon do the symptoms show that it is one in wkich 
the whole system participates? A carbuncle, an eruption of small-pox, scarla- 
tina, or measles, and an attack of erysipelas or vesicular fever, are all so many 
illustrations of the fully admitted truth, that a severe affection of the skin, 
whether caused by accident or otherwise, involves the constitution in the gen- 
eral disturbance. In the milder forms of skin diseases the general lesion may 
be less obvious; but from analogy we are bound to conclude that it exists. If 
a person be inoculated for small-pox, and but one pustule appears, that pus- 
tule is preceded and accompanied by some degree of fever. Nor is it possibl« 



300 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

extent in the United States. The author has i.een two case** 
occurring in subjects of the scrofulous diathesis, which Las led 
him to suppose that the disease is of a scrofulous character : at 
any rate, it sometimes depends on internal causes ; and therefore, 
in addition to the local remedies, some sort of medicine of an 
alterative character must be given. See Alteratives. 

The term malanders is applied to the disease when the foro 
\ega are affected, and salanders when it is located in the hind 
ones. As both are supposed to proceed from the same cause, 
the local treatment consists in washing the parts twice a day 
with an alkaline wash — lime water — or saleratus ; and after 
the part or parts are wiped dry, the following application must 
be used : — 

Sprite ofturpentine, \ ' ' • of each equal parts. 

POULTRY LOUSINESS IN HORSES. 

Poultry lousiness, one of the evils of domestication, has prob- 
ably never occupied much of the attention of horse owners in this 
country ; yet it is important that such should be made acquainted 
with the facts in relation to it, because a knowledge of them may 
explain the origin of many cutaneous diseases — attended with 
loss of hair — tbat seem to have a spontaneous origin, and at the 
same time resist the ordinary treatment. It is very necessary 

for a pimple to be thrown out spontaneously on the surface of the body without 
some previous lesion, however slight, either of the solids or the circulating 
fluids of the system ; else we should have an effect without a cause. In like 
mannjr, every cutaneous disease, whether arising spontaneously, like lepra ot 
herpes, or whether resulting from contagion, as scabies or porrigo, eithet 
originally or ultimately involves the constitution, more or less obviously, in the 
changes which are taking place in the capillary sy=tem. As the brain takes 
cognizance of every disturbance in the extremities o the nerves, so the heart 
receives and reflects an impression when the minute vessels, however distant 
from the centre of circulation, become congested or inflamed. In fact, a sym- 
pathy exists throughout both systems, and in all parts of the frame ; so that 
every part of the body suffers with every member, and each member with the 
who e body — the local disease, when communicated from without, becoming 
the cause of the constitutional disturbance, and vice versa ; the general 
:achexy, when it exists primarily, becoming, in its turn, the cause of the Urn 
affectum 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 301 

also I hat fowl breeders (who, in a great majority of cases, are 
horse owners) should know that there is such an evil in exist- 
ence ; having, as will be seen hereafter, a well-defined cause oper- 
ating, not beyond their comprehension, but which, in such case, 
is invariably present, and cognizant to the perceptive faculties of 
evsry thinking man. 

In the treatment of disease, our first business is to discover, as 
p.eai as circumstances permit, its cause, and then, if possible, to 
rcnu ;ve it. In such a case as this, we might treat the cutaueous 
affection, but with little credit to ourselves or profit to our em- 
ployer, unless the cause be removed. A writer in the Rural 
ITew Yorker thus alludes to the matter : — 

" During the early season of my keeping fowls, I had their 
roosting-place adjoining the stall where I kept my horse, with a 
partition between. I think it was the second year after I kept 
my hens in this manner, that I discovered there was something 
the matter with my horse. He showed a disposition to rub and 
bite himself; but for a long time I paid little regard to it, think- 
ing he would soon be over it; but it seemed to increase upon him 
I could fit up no stall nor partition of sufficient strength to resist 
his efforts. I could leave him nowhere unhitched ; and if 1 
hitched him, he would soon break loose, and get to some place 
where he could rub. For six months or more, he continued in 
this manner, before I ascertained what ailed him. I tried various 
remedies for humors in the blood, bled him copiously, drenched 
him with physic till he could hardly stand ; and all to no effect. 
He was a large and valuable horse commonly, but at this stage 
of matters he was truly a sight to behold. He was minus hia 
mane, and was in nearly the same condition with his tail; his 
Bides lacerated and naked, in consequence of his continual rubbing 
ord biting. At last the thought struck me that the animal mighi 
be lousy ; and, on close examination, I found he was literally 
covered with small hen lice; and they adhered so closely to the 
p,kin, that it was almost impossible to comb out one with a fine 
comb. I now changed my course of doctoring, and by dint of 
perseverance, through the application of various remedies for the 
destruction of lice, in the course of six or eight weeks I succeeded 
in effecting a perfect cure 
2fi 



'02 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

"The first thing I did after this was to remove my hen roost, 
and scald and whitewash the stable. I have not been troubled 
with hen lice getting on my horse since. I have heard of similar 
eases, where horses have been afflicted in the same way ; hence 
I consider it safest not to build a hen house behind the stable." 

This affection has become so common of late among horses in 
tl e United States, and as the majority of their owners are almost 
in the dark regarding it, we here introduce to the reader an inter- 
esting article from the pen of Mons. H. Bouley, translated from 
the French, by Mr. Percivall : — 

" Amongst these there is one, interesting alike as regards its 
cause, its mode of manifestation, and its treatment, which has been 
confounded with general itch or mange ; to which, indeed, it bears 
some resemblance, in consisting, as it does, of the existence of a 
parasitic animal, and which must be destroyed ere the disease 
will disappear. To this variety of phthyriasis* M. Bouley has 
given the name of the Poultry Lousiness, (phthyriasis des oiseaux,) 
on account of the unique cause giving origin to it, as well as by 
way of distinguishing it from the pedicular f disease peculiar to 
horses. 

" Its commencement is instantaneous. All at once the horse is 
seized with a violent, continued general itching. So sudden and 
irresistible is the desire the animal possesses to scratch himself, 
that he is not easy for a single moment. He rubs his skin 
against every resisting body near him, stamps the ground con- 
tinually, strikes his belly, bites every place he can reach with his 
mouth; manifesting, by his continual movements, the burning 
itching by which he is devoured. At night his torments increase; 
so much so, that should the animal be abandoned to himself, he 
rubs and bites himself to that degree, that he tears his skin, and 
carries portions away in his mouth, denuding himself extensively 
of his scarf skin ; nor does he relax until smarting pains succeed 
the insupportable torments of the itching. 

"At the time these symptoms of prurience J are making their 
appearance, the skin is the seat of an eruption of very small vesi- 
cles ; § some solitary — others, in greater number, congregate, 

• Lousiness. t Itching. 

f From pedicuius, a louse $ Small eruptions containing fluid. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 30J 

occupying more or less extent of surface. These vesid m contaiii| 
at the period of their maturity, scarcely serosity enough to raise 
the epidermis,* which becomes detached, dragging the hairs with 
tt that run across, leaving behind it a small bare surface, perfectly 
circular, of the diameter of a lentil, or the smallest silver coin 
This bare part becomes covered with a crust of dried serosity, 
which soon exfoliates, f and is replaced by a new epidermis, per 
fectly smooth. 

"This primary stage of the disease is difficult to meet with, 
because, ordinarily, horses are not submitted to examination 
before depilation has commenced — the sequel of the desiccation \ 
of the vesicles. 

" At the second stage of the poultry lousiness, the most pathog- 
nomonic § lesion is the depilation || consecutive on the vesicular 
eruption ; and this is so characteristic, that, once the disease 
observed in its true form, and traced to its cause, a simple coup 
d'ceil^ is all that is necessary to recognize and distinguish it from 
all other cutaneous affections. 

" The depilation is of that remarkable character that it reflects 
exactly, in the general impression it makes upon the skin, the 
form of the vesicular eruption, solitary or confluent, of which it is 
the latest vestige. In fact, the surface is marked by regular cir- 
cular patches, of the diameter of a lentil, giving it the aspect of 
tiger spots. In places where the eruption has been the most con- 
fluent, the depilation spreads between the vesicles, and so extends 
over a considerable patch of surface ; but, even in these places, 
th* 1 circular disposition of the denuded patches, the primary 
expression of the original vesicular eruption, is still maintained 
in the smooth condition of the epidermis. 

u This depilation spreads, like the vesicular eruption of which 
it is the consequence, with very great rapidity. In two or threo 
days, the horse, with the most shining coat, may have it spotted 
over with circular patches bare of hair, and in the course of a 



• Tlie outer or scarf skin. 

t Separates from the liying skin. J Drying up. 

$ A term grrei ti the symptoms which mark the disease. Lesion meanj 
injury. 
|' Loss of hair K Glance. 



804 THE MODERN HORSE 1 OCTOR. 

week will the hair and epidermis be destroyed over a large extent 
corresponding to the parts where the eruption has been the most 
confluent, ouch is the rapidity of the depilation that we are but 
too apt to date the disease back to a long period, when it i3, in 
(ruth, but of a few days' duration. 

" It is only at this stage of the phthyriasis that horses ordinarily 
come under observation ; and therefore does it become difficult a* 
irch a time to assign to the disease any specific character ; the 
vesicular kind of eruption serving to distinguish and classify it 
having left no trace upon the skin, save circulatory depilation. 
Sometimes, at this stage of the disease, sorts of solid papula;* 
form within the substance of the skin, which become crowned with 
secondary vesicles, whose progress is identical with that of those 
we have already pointed out, disappearing after the formation 
and detachment of the crust succeeding the secretion. 

" During the whole of this stage, as at the first breaking out of 
the disease, the patients are tormented with continual burning 
itching, causing them to rub themselves incessantly and without 
relaxation ; so that we observe upon the skin, in those places the 
most rubbed, lesions, which we may call traumatic^ consequent 
on the violent action occasioned by the bodies against which the 
animal rubs himself. Those epidermic excoriations \ appear eithei 
in series of lines or in broad patches, or in places irregularly cir- 
cumscribed, according to the regions in which they are found 
and the nature of the bodies against which the friction has taken 
place. They are principally remarkable upon the lateral § parts 
of the head and neck, upon the back and croup, upon the sides 
and flanks, and upon the internal parts of the limbs. They look 
either very angry or bloody, \%hen observed immediately aftei 
the rubbing, or they are covered with red incrustations more or 
less adherent, according to the length of time they have existed ; 
or else they appear in a state of granulation || and suppuration, 
whenever the skin has become sufficiently deeply injured. Bui 
these superficial lesions of the skin do not by right belong more 
properly to poultry lousiness than to any other pruriginous 

• Elevations. $ Side. 

t Like wounds. |j Grain-like, fiesny bodies 

t Abrasions of the skin. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR 303 

disease ; and so far from being considered as one of their pecu- 
liar features, we ought to look upon them as simulating those 
affections to which they in truth belong, and which they stand in 
the place of. 

* This disease in no way interferes with the integrity of the 
general functions. Apart from the violent excitement the ani 
mal may experience, and the consecutive irregularity of his 
respiration and circulation it may occasion, he presents all the 
aspect of the most perfect health. When, however, the disease 
becomes of long duration, the subject of it will be apt to fall off 
his appetite, to grow thin, and to lose his condition for work 
from the gradual wasting of his powers. Indeed, there occur 
cases in which this privation of rest (from continual excitement) 
brings on complete marasm,* and such inability for work, that the 
proprietor feels himself compelled to get rid of his horse at any 
price. 

" Such is the nature of this singular affection, whose most 
striking characters are, the suddenness of its appearance and the 
rapidity with which it spreads over the entire surface of the 
skin, leaving every where uniform marks, vestiges of its presence, 
viz., depilation in circular patches of the skin, and a terrible 
sense of itchiness, without intermission and with evening ex- 
acerbation." t 

In order to destroy the vermin, and at the same time to cure 

the cutaneous eruptions, and restore the hair, take 

Linseed oil, 1 ounce, 

Pyroligneous acid, ... . . 4 ounces, 
Spirits of turpentine, 1 ounce. 

Two or three daily applications of this compound will generally 
suffice. The parts to which the application has been made musf 
be washed with soap and water. The vermin can also be de- 
stroyed by sponging the body with an infusion of lobelia. 

RAT'S TAIL. 

Rat's tail is a name given to a narrow streak of denuded hail 
which occasionally appears on the upper part of a horse's tail 

• Emaciat ; >n. f Increase in violence if symptoms 

26* 



806 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

It generally arises from a sort of exanthema, or cutaneous ei up 
lion, causing an intolerable itching ; the horse is constantly rub- 
bing the part against the side of his stall, and thus the pilous 
covering is worn off. The remedy is 

Spirits of turpentine, ^ 

Pyroligneous acid, > . . . equal parts. 

Linseed oil, ) 

Wash the parts daily, and dress with the above. 

HIDE BOUND. 

This term is generally applied to horses whose coats are 
u staring," the skin tight on the ribs, and otherwise out of con- 
dition. The appearance generally denotes derangement of the 
digestive organs, and therefore can only be considered as a 
symptom of disease. At times the skin appears very scurfy, 
and the exhalants of the external surface seem to pour out an 
unusual quantity of morbid matter, the more volatile parts of 
which evaporate, precipitating on the surface the more solid par- 
ticles in the form of thin scales. It gives the horse a very 
filthy appearance, and requires some care in grooming in order 
to make the animal appear any thing like decent. 

u The condition of the skin and hair," says Mr. Spooner, " will 
afford a true indication of the state of the health in a general 
way. ' TJie horse is unhealthy in his coat,' is a very common ex- 
pression, and this sign should never be neglected. The hair of 
a healthy horse is smooth and sleek, and the skin soft and ex~ 
pansive. This is indicated by the touch, as in cattle. When 
the system is deranged, the skin loses its pliancy, its surface be 
somes hard and dry, and the hair, to use another common ex< 
pression, ' stares on end,' and is rough and rusty. These symp- 
toms accompany almost every constitutional disease, especially 
disorder of the digestive organs. The sympathy existing be- 
tween the skin and alimentary canal is very considerable, and it 
follows, in almost every case, that when either of these become 
affected, the other takes on sympathetic derangement." 

Some writers on farriery would have us believe that " hide 
round results from worms ; " and they recommend strong and 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 307 

dangerous medicine. That worms should be found in such 

horses we are not surprised ; but to set them down as the cattle 

is absurd ; for their presence in the digestive canal is merety 

owing to perverted nutrition, and they may be found in many 

horses whose coats are as smooth as glass. The cure of hide 

bound, then, consists in restoring to healthy action whatever 

organs are diseased. The general health must be improved ere 

the coat will assume its natural sleek appearance and soft, pliant 

feel. If no particular disease can be detected about the animal, 

let some change be made in the diet, his body be warmly clothed, 

and mix the following alterative in his food night and morning : — ■ 

Powdered sassafras bark, } ^ 

" sulphur, £■ of each, 3 ounces, > 

" salt, ) } 

" KS±JM • of each, 2 ounces, 
Oatmeal, 1 pound. 

Mix ; and divide into twelve parts. 

Treatment of cutaneous Affections. — Any system of medicine 
that contemplates the cure of cutaneous diseases must include 
change in diet, or it is almost inert. On this subject Surgeon 
Hunt has written as follows : — 

" Man is an omnivorous animal. This circumstance is both 
an advantage and a disadvantage. It enables him to sustain lifo 
for a short time on almost any kind of aliment, animal or vege- 
table ; but it likewise induces a necessity of a considerable varie- 
ty of diet, or frequent change, in order that he may retain health 
and strength for a long time together. Chemistry has not yet 
detected the reason of this necessity ; and as the proximate ele- 
ments of animal structure are found in bread and water, as well 
as in milk and various other articles, it does not appear that 
change should be necessary at all. But it is known to all gra- 
ziers and feeders of cattle, sheep, and other animals, that change 
is necessary and salutary for them ; and much more is it for 
man. Patients recover under homoeopathic treatment, because 
a rigorous system of diet is imperatively prescribed. The sys- 
tem is not founded on any science or principles which will bear 
a moment's examination. The things to be avoided are per- 
fectly harmless and wholesome, but in the very absuidity and 
Btrangene3s of the diet prescribed consists its value. Tt is a 



308 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

great change. The digestive organs have to pick theii alimeni 
out of a new arrangement of the elements which support animal 
life, and this new work is refreshing. Ther» is more or possibly 
less defecation required than before ; there is more or it may be 
less work given to the kidneys than before. Torpid organs are 
aroused, wearied organs find repose, blood is supplied with less 
nervous exhaustion, and the brain participates in the relief and 
vigor of the whole system. Under these circumstances local 
disease often finds a spontaneous remedy either in the improved 
condition of the circulating fluids or in the circulation itself, and 
the whole mystery of this dietetic cure is nothing but the relief 
of change — just such a relief as is afforded by change of air, 
change of habits, change of country, or of pursuits. The want 
of change in diet is obviously a frequent cause of disease in the 
Bkin, where it occurs in large boarding schools, where the diet is 
too simple, plain, restricted, and unvarying, to maintain the sys- 
tem in vigorous health for a long time together. Accordingly a 
changeof diet — themore sudden and violent the better — will gen- 
erally remove the most of the difficulties in the way of recovery ; 
and if to this be added change of air and change of habits, the 
muscles of the lower extremities being duly called into exercise 
as well as of the upper, the mysteries of the case are explained, 
the inveteracy of the disease is destroyed, and it yields to ordi- 
nary treatment, or even to the spontaneous efforts of the system 
without any medical treatment whatever." 

FALLING OFF OF THE HAIR. — {Alopecia.) 

There are various forms of eruptive diseases which induce a 
falling off of the hair ; and these external eruptions which ap« 
pear on the skin are not always the disease, the real enemy to 
be overcome, but are oftentimes the manifestations — products 
or symptoms — of some inte nal affection. So soon as the erup- 
tive disease extends to the hair bulbs, a sort of morbid action 
commences within them, which loosens the hair, and it falls off. 

At times we And small vesicles which are elevated above the 
skin, often in very considerable numbers ; they pour out on the 
skin a fluid, which, by the process of evaporation, forms crpsia \ 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 309 

these crusts are sometimes converted into minute ulcers, which 
deepen, until they destroy the roots of the hair. They generally 
produce intolerable itching, which obliges the animal constantly 
to rub himself, and thus destroy the hair. The eruption some- 
times occupies a single spot, which soon extends so as to cover a 
large space ; sometimes it appears on the tail, at others on the 
neck and on the flanks, whence it gradually extends. This form 
af eruption is called humid exanthema. There is another form, 
known as dry exanthema, which appears in the form of small 
pimples : they soon scale off", and the place they occupied is cov- 
ered with a farinaceous powder. The animal seems to suffer 
the most excruciating torment, and is constantly rubbing himself. 
The best local remedy for either case is, — 

Pulverized charcoal, 1 ounce, 

Olive oil, 1 pint, 

Pyroligneous acid 5 ounces, 

Common salt 1 ounce. 

Mix, and lubricate the parts daily with a sponge. 

The internal treatment should always commence with small 
doses of sulphur, sassafras, and bayberry bark, given occasionally 
in the food. For further information, the reader is referred to 
article Poultry Lousiness. 

RINGWORM. 

Ringworm presents itself in the horse in the form of circular, 
and sometimes irregular, patches denuded of hair, having on 
their surfaces a morbid secretion, and incrustations of the same. 
It generally locates on the sides of the neck, and occasionally on 
9tker parts. We have never seen any thing on the subject in 
American books, and presume there are but few who ever suspect 
iheir horses to be subject to ringworm. In fact, the author 
would have been in the dark regarding it, had he not seen an 
article on the subject, written by Mr. Percivall, who was the 
first to call the attention of English veterinarians to it. Since 
reading Mr. Percivall's account of it, we have come into pos- 
session of Mr. Haycock's Veterinary Homoeopathy, and there 
find a case, which, for the benefit of the reader, we here In- 
troduce. 



S10 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOK. 

u Case. * * * The driver informed me that for several 
days past he had observed the horse to rub himself a good deal 
against the sides of the stall — a practice which he was not ic 
the habit of doing ; and that he had also observed upon various 
parts of the skin a number of raw-looking spots of a round form. 
The horse at the time was in excellent condition, and in good 
health in every other respect. 

"Present State. — 1. The skin of the animal presents a few 
round and raw-looking spots completely denuded of hair ; they 
aie present on both sides of the neck, and also upon the skin of 
the left cheek. 

" 2. Upon the skin on both sides of the neck, upon the superior 
part of both shoulders, upon the back, in the region of the lum- 
bar vertebrae, and particularly upon the hind quarters, are a 
number of peculiar-looking spots or patches, each of about the 
size of a shilling. 

" 3. The appearance which these patches present is somewhat 
as follows : Some of them are round, while others are of an 
irregular form. The hair in connection with them is of a dirty 
gray color, and it appears as though a portion of fine dust had 
been placed upon it, and then a gummy fluid had dropped amongst 
the whole, and, being allowed to dry, had become incrusted. 

" 4. If the fore finger is placed firmly upon any one of these 
patches, and at the same time forced forwards, the incrusted 
mass slides, as it were, away from its matrix, and a raw surface 
is exposed to view, which, if examined with a common magnify- 
ing lens, a number of pits, or cavities, are observed, some of 
which are filled with purulent matter ; while running, as it were, 
around these cavities, is a red continuous line of variable thick 
ness. 

u 5. The incrustations I found to consist of the hair aggluti 
nated together, from the presence of a gummy substance ex- 
creted from the diseased part beneath." 

Treatment. — Wash the parts with a strong infusion of bay- 
berry bark, wipe dry, and then smear the denuded spots with a 
mixture of 

Pyroligneous acid, .... 4 ounces, 
Turpentine, . . 1 ounce. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 31i 

The washing and dressing to be repeated until healthy action ie 
established. If the disease does not readily disappear, give 

Sulphur, ^ 

Cream of tartar, > . . . . equal parts, 

Sassafras, ) 

Dose, six drachms daily. If the disease still lingers, sponge the 

denuded parts with tincture of muriate of iron. 

SWELLING OF THE LEGS. — (Anasarca ) 

This is a species of dropsy, which shows itself in the legs of 
horses ; and sometimes the tumefaction extends to the skeuth, 
and along the abdomen, as far as the pectoral muscles. The 
swelling generally appears towards morning, after a night's rest, 
and disappears again after a few hours' work. 

Ordinarily, the hind limbs are the most prone to become ana 
sarcous ; except in cases of effusion into the whole cellular tis- 
sues of all the limbs — such as we observe in general dropsy, 
or when the subject is laboring under an attack of influenza, 
"pink-eye," &c. 

Cullen enumerates five species of anasarca, viz. : — 

1. Anasarca serosa; as when the due discharge of the serous 
or watery matter of the blood is suppressed, &c. 2. Anasarca 
oppileta, as when the blood vessels are considerably pressed 
during pregnancy, &c. 3. Anasarca exanthemata ; this happens 
after ulcers, and various eruptive disorders. 4. Anasarca anos- 
mia happens when the blood is extremely poor, from considerable 
losses of it. And, 5. Anasarca debilium ; as when feebleness is 
induced by long illness. The last three are the kinds we genet* 
ally have to contend with in veterinary practice. 

Anasarca exanthemata appears simultaneously with farcy, (or 
lisease of the superficial absorbents,) and in various cutaneoua 
eruptive diseases. A swelling sometimes appears in the lower 
parts of the legs, (which feel hot,) and occasions to the animal 
a sense of itching, and an acute pain, whenever the part receivea 
pressure ; although at other times there appears little or no pain. 
At length a serous fluid discharges itself through the cutaneoua 
vessels, or pores of the skin, corroding the skin, and finally ends 
in the disease termed " grease." 



312 THE MODERN HORSE DOOTOK. 

Anasarca anaemia happens in horses that are bled at certaiu 
eeasons of the year, under the foolish notion of improving their 
condition ; also when repeated bleedings have been practised for 
the cure (!) of inflammatory diseases. In such cases, there exists 
a morbid habit of body, and the serous fluids are apt to migrate 
from tissue to tissue, so long as this common morbid habit con- 
tinues ; unless the fluid accumulates within the thorax, the ven- 
tricles of the brain, or abdomen ; then the case will terminate 
fatally. 

As the oedema swelling (a synonyme of anasarca, generally 
used to express this kind of swelling) is confined principally to 
ihe legs, absorption may be promoted by friction and bandages 
At the same time, the patient must be put on a course of medicine, 
with a view of restoring the general health. 

The following compound, if accompanied with generous feed, 
friction, and bandage, will be found efficient : — 

Pulverized assafoetida £ ounce, 

Cream of tartar, 1 ounce, 

Powdered gentian, 2 ounces, 

Ginger (African), 2 ounces. 

Rub the ingredients together in a mortar, until they are mixed ; 
then add four ounces of finely pulverized poplar bark, (popidu* 
tremuloides,) and divide the mass into six parts ; one to be given 
every night in the food. 

Anasarca debilium, which often accompanies chronic disease, 
must be overcome by invigorating the constitution with tonic 
medicines, such as gentian, goldenseal, and balmony ; and if 
there be languid circulation, stimulants may be proper. In this 
event, we resort to grains of paradise, ginger, and capsicum. 
The diet, too, must be nutritious. Regular exercise, such as the 
patient can bear, must not be neglected. The proportions of the 
abo\e compound are, 



Powdered goldenseal, 

" gentian, S- . . of each 1 ounce, 

" balmony, ^snakehead,) ) 
Flaxseed £ pound. 



J 



Mix ; and divide the mass into six parts, and give one, night and 
morning, in the food. 

In order to excite the absorbents, so as to remove the fluid 
eflused into the cellular tissues, it is sometimes necessary (besidot 



■"»« MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 31<J 

resorting to friction) to use the following liniment, which aiay be 

rubbed on the legs every night : — 

Essence of cedar, . . ... 2 ounces, 
Tincture of capsicum, .... 1 ounce, 
Now rum, 1 pint. 



Another : 



Spirits of hartshorn, 2 ounces, 

Olive oil, 8 ounces. 



Mix together. 

The stimulants referred to may be given in the following pro- 
portions : — 

Powdered grains of paradise, . . 1 ounce, 

" capsicum, \ ounce, 

" ginger, 1 ounce, 

" slippery elm, . . . . $ pound. 

Mix ; divide the mass into six parts, and scatter one on cut feed, 
night and morning. 

It may be well to observe, however, (for fear the reader should 
make a mistake, and consider a case of scarlatina, scarlet fever 
as one of anasarca) that simple malignant disease of this type, so 
well known to our race, does (though somewhat rarely) attack 
the horse; in either form of which — simple or malignant — 
swelling of the legs more or less prevails. There are some fea- 
ures in the latter malady by which it may be distinguished from 
every other form of disease. 

Swelling of the belly, sheath, and breast arise from effusion of 
fluid into the cellular tissues of the parts, and are nothing more 
nor less than local dropsy, and consequently can be treated in the 
game manner as anasarca. 

STINGS OF BEES. 

Many oases are on record of horses dying in consequence of 
an attack by an army of bees. There may, possibly, be no help 
for such cases ; yet we cannot witness the excruciating torments 
under which the poor animal labors, without striving to do some- 
thing for its relief. When the stings are not very numerous, im- 
mediate relief may be obtained by lubricating the parts with n 
mixture of 

Olive oil, ) , 

Lime waterj equal part,. 

27 



814 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

In more aggravated cases, the whole body must be first sponged 
with lime water, and afterwards smeared with linseed oil. The 
patient must be drenched with eight ounces of epsom salts, and 
be kept on scalded shorts. If lime water cannot readily be pro- 
cured, a weak solution of saleratus and water may be substituted. 

We have found the above preparation {olive oil and litrm 
water) a most valuable external application for allaying the ini- 
tntion of the skin after a horse has been stung, or bitten, by some 
of the various tribes of winged insects. The relief which the 
application gives is remarkable, and in many cases it acts in- 
stantaneously. The remedy is much used in human practice, by 
the most distinguished of the faculty, in severe burns and scalds, 
and it never fails to mitigate the pain of the unfortunate sufferer. 
More prompt is it to act on the horse ; for of all the oleaginous 
compounds known to the profession, not one is so readily taken 
up, or absorbed, as linseed oil : you may give a dose internally, 
and in the course of a few hours it will have pervaded the whole 
cellular structure of the animal, and can even be detected on the 
sclerotic membranes of the eye, by merely applying a piece of 
clean linen, which on removal from the eye will have both the 
peculiar odor and greasy appearance of the article. Hence an 
article so highly diffusible as this has proved to be, must have 
advantages over many others used in the same view. Among 
the many cases recorded of horses being stung by bees, we select 
the following, translated from the Rec. de Med. Vet., by the editor 
of the Veterinarian. The case occurred in the practice of M. E 
Clichy, V. S. " Of the five horses attacked by the bees, one was 
dead on M. Clichy's arrival ; while the four others, which had 
been withdrawn from the scene of the accident with considerable 
difSrulty, after having cut their ropes, were in an extraordinary 
sUvte of exasperation. One three-year-old horse, particularly, 
of very strong constitution, when turned into a loose place, became 
so outrageous that approach to him was impossible. Under con- 
tinual agitation, he lay down and rose again incessantly, or he 
threw himself against the walls of his ab.nle, and Ore his flanks. 
He was deaf to the voice of the man looking after him, and under 
extreme excitability ; while the eyelids were so swollen as to 
completely cover hie eyes ; his respiration, laborious from agita- 



THE MODERN HOKSE DOCTOK. 315 

tion, was rendered yet more so by the tumefaction of his nostrils. 
No treatment could be put in practice, and he in a short time 
died. 

" The three others, though difficult of approach, received some 
treatment. They were less agitated than the one deceased, 
though their symptoms were the same. In addition to oppressed 
breathing, and full, strong, and very quick pulse, they had injected 
membranes ; pupils dilated to an extraordinary degree ; the 
borders of all the natural apertures swollen ; the tongue larger 
than usual; exhibiting black spots, from the stings sticking on 
the mucous membrane. 

" Treatment. — Dry frictions, to eradicate the stings implanted 
into the skin ; frictions with ammoniacal liniment ; bloodlettings 
from the jugulars. The blood appeared thick and black, and 
quickly coagulated. Injections were thrown into the mouth. 
All the horses died.* 

* And that such a result should happen we are not surprised. Only think ! — 
a horse suffering the most intense agony, — the surfaces highly injected, and 
a .housand fold more sensitive than at any other time, — is now to be submitted 
to dry frictions ! This is similia si7nilibus curantur with a vengeance. A high 
Btate of inflammatory action is to be augmented by dry friction. To be chari- 
table, we remark, that such may not be the object of the practitioner ; but the 
practice must produce such result. For example : Let a person, on a chilly 
day, seat himself before a comfortable fire ; he soon feels a glowing sensation 
all ovei the body ; tne oxygen from the fire stimulates the nerves of the ex- 
posed parts, such as the face and hands, and the blood mounts up to the latter 
with d rtish. How has this been accomplished ? Not so much by increased 
arterial action, as by excitation of the nervous sensibility, which always invites 
an afflux of blood, and raises the sensibility of a part by means of the mutual 
relations existing between the capillary and nervous systems. In this state of 
primary inflammatory action, what is to be done to reduce it ? Are we to order 
the person to give his face a sound rubbing ? The reader will see the inconsist- 
ency of such an act ; and in the case of the horse, he laboring under inflamma- 
tory action of even a more aggravated nature, dry friction, which increases 
Irritation, must be conducive of more harm than good. Among the manj 
reasons we may urge against bleeding a horse after being stung, we just allude 
to one; and that is, that the blood is not at fault — that the pain arises from 
nervous influence. The blood has no other purpose in the economy of the 
horse than to convey nutrition into the neighborhood of parts where it is 
wanted. If too much accumulate in a given part, it is owing to 'some irritant; 
remove or lessen the irritation, and thus allay nervous excitement, and the pain 
ceases. If ever a horse is to be relieved when suffering from the excitement 
and pain described above, it can only be accomplished by some such lubricating 
agent as just recommended. 



dlti THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

''Post Mortem. Examinations. — In all of them a great quantity 
of stings were found sticking in the skin, especially around the 
nose, eyes, mouth, ears, anus, flanks, sheath, and internal surfaces 
of the thighs. The borders of the natural orifices were much 
tumefied ; excoriations about the body from frictions and blows. 
Some of the horses had their teeth broken. Besides which, there 
were to be seen infiltrations unler the skin, and sub-cutaneous 
collective tissue in different parts, especially where the bones were 
projecting, where there were stagnations of blood." 

Bleeding r.eysr relieves stagnation. 

CUTANEOUS ERUPTION AND ITCHING. 

A very slight eruption of the skin will sometimes cause violent 
itching. There are various forms of this disease, but they are only 
varieties of the same condition, and require nearly the same 
means of cure. 

Treatment. — Changes in diet, according to the condition of the 
horse, will often cure a simple case without any medicine. If it 
does not yield to this, let the animal be sponged daily with a 
weak ley of saleratus water, into which throw a little sulphur; 
and give a few doses of sulphur and sassafras, equal parts. Dose, 
one ounce daily. The covering of the body, which may be needed 
in consequence of sponging, should be linen, instead of flannel. 

MANGE. 

Mange is a disease to which man, as well as a great variety of 
animals, is subject ; although when occurring in the former it is 
generally denominated itch. It is known to be a highly contagious 
disease, and therefore an infected animal should be located by 
himself. Various opinions are entertained regarding its nature: 
the most popular opinion is, that it is dependent on the presence 
of animalcula — minute insects — to which Mr. Percivall gives 
the name of mites, or acari. Our own opinion is, that the mites 
are the effect, and not the cause ; that they are generated in the 
metamorphosis of the cuticular tissues. Poverty and insufficient 
food have been assigned as among the causes of mange ; but this 
cannot always be the case, for we know that it often occurs 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 317 

In horses that have been well fed, and it occasionally occurs in 
dogs that eat a large quantity of animal food. It probably origi 
nates more frequently from deranged digestive organs than from 
any other cause : uncleanliness, without doubt, may give rise to 
it, but it occurs in dogs that have the very best care and attention 
as regards cleanliness. In fact, the author is so well satisfied of 
its digestive origin that he never attempts to cure it without con- 
stitutional, as well as local, treatment. 

Treatment. — Before making any application to the skin, let the 
animal be sponged all over the body with lime water ; after the 
skin becomes dry, anoint it, by means of a sponge, with 

Pyroligneous acid, 4 ounces, 

Spirits turpentine, 1 ounce, 

Linseed oil, 3 ounces, 

Sulphur, 1 ounce. 

Mix. To be well shaken when used. 

Medicine. — Take sulphur, cream of tartar, sassafras, and pow- 
dered mandrake, of each two ounces ; rub them together in a 
mortar. Divide the mass into twelve parts, and give one night 
and morning in the fodder. It is necessary also to make some 
change in the diet, and by all means avoid musty grain and 
ground meal, while treating the disease. 

CRACKED HEELS. 

This is a very common affection among horses in this country, 
and is often attended with considerable lameness. It may be con- 
sidered in the light of local plethora, or congestion of the capil- 
laries. If they have existed any length of time, an offensive 
discharge sets up, and the surrounding skin becomes tender, and 
the limb tumefied ; sympathetic fever then sets in ; the animal 
Icsus his appetite, and falls off in flesh. Cracked heels may be 
treated on the same general principles as recommended andei 
article Grrease or Scratches ; which see. It is necessary at times, 
in order to keep the edges of the crack in contact, to apply a sofl 
pad wetted with Turlington's balsam, and encircle the parts with 
a narrow roller. To relieve pain, apply a tent moistened with 
sulphuric ether. 

27* 



318 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



ACUTE IRRITATION OF THE SKIN, BY CLIPPING. 

In the Elements of Veterinary Homoeopathy, written by Sur- 
geon Haycock, we find an article on acute irritation of the skin. 
The author takes to himself the credit of being the first to call 
attention to the subject: be that as it may, he has earned for 
himself the thanks of all those who have " a heart to feel another' J 
woe," by giving publicity to his views on this subject. 

"When we come to take into consideration the irritation ano 
pain some men suffer, who, after allowing their beards to grow 
long, cut the hair off" close to the skin, we can then realize that 
horses must also suffer from the practice of clipping. This can 
be explained on the principle, that the hair at its base, or inser- 
tion, is much more unyielding than at its remote point, (if the 
hair be long,) and therefore, if the hand or blanket be rapidly 
passed over the short hair, considerable resistance is met with, 
and a greater degree of motion is felt in the sensitive tissues that 
enclose the bulb and radicles of the hair; consequently, a repe- 
tition of the practice, or from the act of grooming, acute irritation 
is often the result. 

Another reason for the irritation may be assigned. The hair 
is described as small, cylindrical, transparent, insensible, and 
elastic filaments, which arise from the skin, and are fastened in it 
by means of small roots. Being cylindrical, therefore, it is very 
reasonable to suppose that by cutting off the natural coat of hair at 
its base, where its calibre is of considerable magnitude, we expose 
an immense surface of highly sensitive tissue, which, in reality, 
may be compared to stripping oft' so many minute particles of 
3kin. The stimulating effects of an impure, or even a pure, 
atmosphere on the interior surface of the hair bulb is injurious. 
We often hear men complain of taking cold, and experiencing a 
feeling of slight pain or irritation at the same time they take cold, 
probably partly from this cause, and partly from the removal ol 
the pilous covering of the head. The symptoms, as described by 
Surgeon Haycock, are: "Acute irritation of the skin is charac- 
terized by a general soreness of the entire surface. If the 
>bs< "\er attempts to place his hand upon the body of the animal, 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 31S 

it shrinks away with great fear. Sometimes the soreness is so 
very excessive that it is dangerous to hastily approach the poor 
brute ; he will kick and resist handling in every possible way in 
which he can. The skin is dry, and the hair feels very dry and 
harsh to the touch ; in some cases, a great number of elevations 
will be found upon the skin in the region of the neck, the breast, 
upon the inner surfaces of the fore limbs; upon the haunches under 
the abdomen ; and around the hind limbs, from the stifle joints to 
the hoofs. The appetite is sometimes very much impaired, and the 
pulse becomes increased in the number of its beats ; but, generally 
speaking, neither the appetite nor the pulse is much affected. 
Sometimes, again, it is associated with swelling of the limbs and 
chapped heels, and also swelling of the sheath in horses. 

" I will here select a case which will furnish the reader a good 
example of the form and conditions under which it is generally 
presented : — 

"November 11, 1850. I was requested to attend upon a 
pony, the property of J. Battles, Esq., solicitor, in this town. 

" History, fyc. — The animal in question is about twelve hands 
two inches in height, of a black color, and well bred. About a 
week ago it was clipped, and in the course of four or five days 
after the operation, it was observed to shrink very much if the 
groom or any one attempted to handle it; and this morning it 
was found so much worse in the above respect, that I was 
requested to attend it. 

" 1. The pulse and respirations are normal. 

" 2. The appetite is by no means good. It eats a little now 
and then ; neither does it partake of much water. 

" 3. The dung is dry-looking and scanty, and the urine scanty 
and thick. 

u 4. It is very much afraid of being handled. If I attempt to 
lay my hands upon it, it retreats to the far end of the stall, and 
gathers itself together. 

" 5. Upon the skin in the region of the neck, also bt tween the 
inner surfaces of the fore limbs, upon the sides of the abdomen v 
under the abdomen, upon the haunches, and around the hind 
limbs, are a great number of hard elevations about the size of n 
sm'-dl pea- 



320 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

• 4 6. The fore limbs are swollen from the knees downwards, 
and the hind limbs from the hock downwards, and within tha 
hollow of the heel of the right fore limb is a deep crack or fissure, 
which stretches across the shin, and discharges an offensive mat- 
ter ; the left heel is also slightly chapped. 

" It is difficult to accurately determine the cause of the attack 
in the present case, unless it arose from the sudden exposure of 
f lie skin. Previous to its being clipped, it was perfectly healthy; 
and since then it has been regularly used and fed as before, 
while the weather has remained, upon the whole, very fine, (con- 
sidering the period of the year) during the last six or eight days." 

The treatment in this case was homoeopathic. 

Treatment. — We might with truth say " no clipping, no treat- 
ment ; " for, if acute irritation is the result of clipping, we have 
only to discontinue the practice, and that is the end of the matter. 
But Dame Fashion is such an arbitrary slut that it is no sort of 
use to oppose her mandates, especially when they receive the 
sanction of her millions of votaries ; therefore we must prescribe 
something to mitigate the sufferings of the poor victim that has 
been thus deprived of his natural clothing, and made the subject 
of unnecessary torture. A simple alkaline wash may possibly 
answer every purpose. One ounce of saleratus to half a bucket 
of water will be sufficiently strong : indeed, we do not know but 
sponging the body twice a day with cold water instead of the 
former — which should be so used — might have a good effect 
If, however, the patient is uneasy, irritable, and feverish, in short, 
has the usual symptoms of sympathetic derangement of some ono 
or more of the functions, then give the following : — 

Castor oil, 8 ounces, 

Tincture of aloes, 2 ounces, 

Essence of peppermint, .... 2 drachms. 

'I he groom should be careful to use a soft brush, tnd dispense 
with the currycomb ; and, as it is customary, and perhaps ju- 
dicious, to clothe the animal, whether exposed or otherwise, the 
blanket should be lined with soft linen, and when not in use 
must be spread out to dry.* 

* M [f the owner," says Haycock, "cannot suffer n long coat j( hair, anP 
will have it shortened, ho roujt never allow the ho se to be motionless »hil* > b 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 321 



SWEATING. 



" My horse sweats easy," is a common complaint among horse 
owners ; and as such view it in the light of a peculiar disease, the 
practitioner must be prepared to prescribe for such cases. The 
sweating seems to be the feature most regarded, and if that can 
only be made to disappear, our employers are generally satisfied, 
although they are not always solicitous to learn the real cause of it. 

Let us, therefore, in as brief a manner as possible, inquire into 
the causes of increased transpiration of the fluids of the body. 

A large quantity of watery vapor is continually passing off 
from the body of horses, and it may be very considerable, although 
not sensible. If the atmosphere be warm and dry, it readily ab- 
sorbs the cutaneous exhalation, so as to pass off unobserved ; 
but on a damp day, when the atmosphere is highly charged with 
vapor, — almost to saturation, or completely so, — then the ex- 
halation from the surface is there condensed so as, occasionally, 
to give the horse an appearance of being in a profuse sweat. 
Under these circumstances, the amount of condensed perspira- 
tion depends on the warmth, dryness, and motion of the sur- 
rounding air. 

The motion of the atmosphere has considerable to do with 
carrying off the insensible fluid. Many of our readers must have 
observed that a horse will dry off quicker, and of course sweat 



is wet or exposed to a cold blast. He must have a good groom and a good 
Btable. Those who have both seldom have a horse that requires clipping ; but 
when clipped, he must not want either. A long coat takes up a deal of nmjs- 
tuis, and is difficult to dry; but whether wet or dry, it affords some defence tc 
the skin, which is laid bare to every breath of air when deprived of its natur il 
covering. Every one must know from himself whether wet ciotning and a 
wet skin, or no clothing and a wet skin, is the most disagreeable and danger- 
ous. It is true that clipping saves the groom a great deal of labor He can 
dry the horse in half the time, and with less than half the exertion which a 
long coat requires ; but it makes his attention and activity more necessary, for 
the horse is almost sure to take cold if not dressed immediately. When well 
llothed with hair, he is in less danger, and not so much dependent on the care 
of the groom. These observations contain the whole rationale of clipping, and 
ihow it is inapplicable to farm horses; and as country grooms are usually 
qualified, clipping would prove but problematically beneficial to the saddle 01 
hirness horse of the farmer." 



522 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

less, in a draught of air than in a damp stable, where there is no 
current. 

As no evaporation from the skin can, therefore, take place 
while the atmosphere is loaded with vapor, and as the perspira- 
tory glands still continue to pour it out on the surface, it must 
inevitably produce an appearance of profuse sweating. In such 
cases, the reader will perceive the absurdity of dosing a horse; for 
the conditions under which the fluid is poured forth are peculiar 
fcc all animals whose skins are not covered with scales or plates. 
Physiologists teach us that the purpose of this watery exhalation, 
and of its increase under a high temperature, (for it does increase 
under the scorching rays of a noonday sun, whether the horse 
be drawing a load or not,) is evidently to keep the heat of the body 
as near as possible to a uniform standard. By the evaporation of 
fluid from the surface of the skin, a considerable quantity of heat 
is withdrawn from it, becoming latent in the change from fluid to 
vapor, and this evaporating process lessens the temperature of 
the whole body. Were it not for this all-wise provision, neither 
man nor horse could ever endure the rays of a tropical sun ; nei- 
ther could they sustain any high degree of heat for any great 
length of time without injury to the vital tissues. Carpenter in- 
forms us that the perspiration contains a small quantity of solid 
animal matter, most of which accumulates on the surface : this 
is — at least should be — removed by the brush and currycomb. 
Besides, there are other secretions of the skin which are mingled 
with it; and there is good reason to think that this excretion is 
of much importance in carrying off certain substances which 
would be injurious if allowed to remain in the blood. This re- 
ce ; ves confirmation from the fact known to all grooms, that hu- 
inory horses, as they are termed, have an abundance of scurf on 
their hides, and require constant grooming to keep them any 
thing like decent. We here see the circumstances under which 
evaporation and condensation take place, and have learned 
something as regards the object of cutaneous exhalation in its 
normal or healthy aspect. 

We are now prepared to investigate the causes of abnormal 
exhalation. And this takes place at various times, subject to tin 
preceding pro\ isions, under several forms of disease ; yet of itsoif 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 32$ 

it cannot be considered as such. It is sometimes indicative of pain 
irritation, &c. A horse, for example, has an acute attack of 
gastro-enteritis, — inflammation of the stomach and bowels ; — he 
seems to sweat so profusely that the water runs from his body in 
large drops; the pain, together with the muscular efforts of the 
unimal, augment this secretion ; and thus augmented, it helps to 
cool our patient and lessen inflammatory symptom*. In such 
case, and in many others of an acute character, occurring in a 
plethoric subject, sweating is decidedly beneficial : it is prostrat- 
ing, no doubt; but as the object of every practitioner in the 
treatment of acute disease is to prostrate by some means or other, 
sweating is a valuable process, in view of cure. Here again we 
need not prescribe for sweating. 

We, however, often find horses of a weak, washy constitution 
laboring under some chronic form of disease, that cannot perform 
mere ordinary work without getting into a perfect lather. Such 
are proper subjects for veterinary skill, not in view of prescribing 
anti-sweating medicine — although it prove so, by restoring the 
animal to health, — but for the purpose of treating the real mal- 
ady. If successful, the sweating will disappear. 

A horse must be expected to sweat on a sultry day, especially 
if he shall have imbibed large quantities of water. The sweating, 
however, is beneficial, and often wards off an attack of founder 
or rheumatism. 

Profuse perspiration in the last stages of dissolution is a feature 
only regarded as a symptom, and therefore it is useless to pi*e- 
scribe with a view of putting a stop to it. For these and other 
reasons which might be presented, sweating cannot be considered 
as a disease. 

Sweating often relieves the system from disease, by liberating 
through the surface, morbid matter ; so that if we were to suppress 
the cutaneous exhalation by providing for its exit thiough some 
other depuratory surface, disease of some sort is very liable to 
succeed. 

There are four depuratory surfaces — the skin, lungs, digestive 
surface, and kidneys : each is continually eliminating materials, 
many of which, if retained, would prove injurious to l>oth man 
lind aniniilri. 



324 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

But exposed as domestic animals are to such varieties if 
atmospheric changes, it seems natural that some provision should 
be made for change or diminution of function. And thus we find 
that, if a horse in a profuse sweat is suddenly exposed to a current 
of cool air, the mouths of the exhalants close, putting a sudden 
stop to transpiration: the result would be disease, and probably 
death, (which now and then does happen,) were it not that the 
fluids recede to some other surface. When the kidneys are ita 
receptacle, it passes off by the urinary organs ; when it recedes to 
the digestive surface, a diarrhoea is the result. Should the lungs 
be called upon to perform the extra labor, copious expectoration 
is the result. In each of these cases disease is very apt to follow, 
and therefore under no circumstances whatever should the cuta- 
neous exhalation be checked. If an animal is laboring under any 
form of disease, prescribe for that, and let him sweat. 

WARTS. 

These excrescences, arising from the cuticular covering of the 
skin, are sometimes very annoying to horses, especially when 
occurring about the eye, sheath, penis, or on parts which come ip 
contact with the harness. 

Warts are so familiar to every one, that it appears unnecessary 
to enter into any description of them, other than to remark, that 
they are at first composed of fibrin, which ultimately becomes 
cartilaginous. 

Treatment. — A wart having a broad base should be treated 
in the following manner : Take a common suture needle, and arm 
it with a double ligature ; each ligature is to be composed of 
three threads of saddler's twine, well waxed; pass the needlo 
right through the centre of the wart, close down to the skin ; tie 
each half separately, with a surgeon's knot, as tight as possible ; cut 
the ends off pretty close to the knot, and in the course of a short 
time the whole will drop off. A wart having a small circum 
6cribed pedicle may be removed in the same way, by tying a 
single ligature round its base. If the exposed surfaces should 
not heal readily, moisten them occasionally with tincture of aloes 
and myrrh; and if they show a disposition to ulceiate, sprii.klo 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 32«» 

them with powdered charcoal and bloodroot. "".qual parts. Warts 
about the sheath or penis should be removed by excision : to dc 
this, we often have to cast the animal, the consequent hemor- 
rhage to be arrested with tincture of muriate of iron or styptic. 
See Styptic. 

CONSIDERATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS RELATING TO 
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 

" Prevention is cheaper than cure." 

In these remarks M. Magendie's object has been to examine 
into the channels through which deleterious substances find admis- 
sion into the animal economy. 

<l Respiration is the principal one. Through it we are continu- 
ally exposed to the action of gases, vapors, emanations, virulent 
and caustic poisons, germs and seeds, the ulterior development 
of which may entail mortal results. The majority of substances 
thus introduced are of a nature to alter the composition of the 
blood, and disturb its vital operations. 

" The vapors have divers chemical compositions. Some there 
are which have the power of quickly extinguishing the nervous 
energy ; and although not many of them possess this fatal prop- 
erty, it no less becomes our duty to inquire into their mode 
of action. At the head of these we must place prussic acid, a 
substance so volatile that it condenses while evaporating. Ma- 
gendie illustrated this by experiment. He mixed, in a conical 
vessel, a portion of medicinal prussic acid in combination with 
three fourths of alcohol, and one fourth of the acid. He then 
took a rabbit, and held its nose to the mouth of the glass vessel, 
so that it was fully exposed to the vapor rising from the mixture. 
The animal became convulsed, and in a few seconds died. In 
ihis case, the blood of the rabbit became impregnated with the 
gas of the acid, without the pulmonary vessels being involved. 
The lungs are constituted of a myriad of tubes, whose mem- 
branous walls, being extremely thin and porous, have the property 
of being permeable to vapor. The vapors arising rom the 
blood in the same manner pass out, constituting the pulmonary 
28 



326 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

transpiration. This may be plainly seen by introducing pins- 
phorus into the blood. As soon as the blood containing it 
arrives at the lungs, it escapes by respiration, the animal breath- 
ing opaque white vapors, consisting of phosphoric acid, which 
inflames in contact with air. This continual evaporation is nc 
hiuderance to the air coming in contact with the blood circulating 
through the pulmonary capillary vessels. What is without may 
pass into the blood, and vice versa. 

" These phenomena command the utmost attention from medical 
men. It is of the greatest importance to know the composition 
of the air we respire, since so many diseases are in this manner 
produced ; and though we with difficulty arrive at any certain 
knowledge of the miasms rising in marshy grounds, from the de- 
composition of putrid vegetable and animal matters, there can 
be no doubt whatever of their entering into the blood, through 
the medium of the air, and so producing grave disease. In some 
countries especially, such affections rage with extreme intensity ; 
in hot, humid climates, and particularly on the sea coast and bor- 
ders of certain rivers, as, for instance, the Gulf of Mexico, Vera 
Cruz, New Orleans, <fcc. Such causes of disease admit of dem- 
onstration ; since, by introduction of them into the blood, ex- 
perimentally, may be produced, though not exactly the yellow 
fever, symptoms bearing the greatest resemblance to it, with 
black vomit and speedy death. Lower Egypt, where the plague 
formerly prevailed so alarmingly, owing to such causes, has been 
rendered comparatively healthy by the improved condition of the 
country. 

•' "What we observe in such insalubrious countries and situations 
abroad as these, is apt but too often to present itself in our dis- 
secting rooms at home. In spite of every precaution to disinfect 
such places, and retard the putrefaction of the bodies in them, 
every year we have a certain number of dissecting pupils seized 
with the low fever calied at the present day typhoid. 

"A very curious experiment has served to show the facility 
with which miasms enter the blood through the respiratory pas- 
sages. For a long time it has been the opinion of M. Hagendie, 
lhat the pulmonary mucous membrane did do! extend through 
ihe extreme ramifications of ihv bronchi, — an assertion rebutted 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 32' 

by several anatomists, on the score of the mucous linings of 
canals extending throughout these cavities, — and that, if t lie pul- 
monary membrane could not anatomically be proved to do so, ii 
was on account of its extreme tenuity. In proof, however, that 
Lb opinion was well founded, M. Magendie experimented with 
a virulent poison called woorara, which was known to talje no 
effect on mucous surfaces, but to pass through the stomach and 
intestines unaltered in its properties, although, when placed in 
contact with a vascular surface, the smallest particle of it occa- 
sions instant death. With this he smeared the interior of the 
bronchial tubes without producing any effect ; though when he 
reduced the poison to very fine powder, and contrived the grad- 
ual introduction of it into the air cells, where it underwent solu- 
tion, then its poisonous effects became manifest, furnishing con- 
firmatory evidence of M. Magendie's theory of their anatomy. 
A proof, as has appeared all along, that respiration is the princi- 
pal and the most common channel through which miasms enter 
the blood, is, that animal matters, in a state of putrefaction, in- 
troduced into the stomach, do not prove destructive. Some car- 
nivora— ^ the dog and the wolf — are fond of putrid flesh 
Certain men have the same craving. There are some who live 
on human flesh ; and we know, by many, game that is called 
high is preferred to that which is fresh. 

" If human industry has for a long time made us acquainted 
with the means of neutralizing the effects of putrefaction, the 
stomach has ever possessed this property in an eminent degree ; 
and this, doubtless, is the explanation of our being able to eat 
viands in a putrid condition. M. Magendie has made this the 
subject of some very curious experiments. Fifteen grains of 
blood in a state of putrefaction, giving off ammonia and sulphu- 
retted hydrogen, was injected into the jugular vein of a dog. Tha 
effect was, great disturbance of all the functions of the brain, the 
circulation, and locomotion ; and the animal died in twelve hours. 
Here death could not be owing either to the ammonia or the sul- 
phuretted hydrogen contained in so small a quantity of blood. 
A second experiment is, introducing underneath the skin of a 
dog a couple of drachms of putrid water, in which stale fish had 
been. The simj'e absorption of this proved sufficien* to bring 



828 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

on rapid death. In both these cases, after death the lunga 
proved greatly injected ; the blood within the large vessels was 
deep black and hardly coagulated, and much resembled currant 
jelly. Frequent repetition of these experiments led the learned 
professor to the conclusion that, whenever putrid matter in any 
quantity is introduced into the system, the blood losing its char- 
acteristic properties, and becoming unfit for circulation through 
the lungs, death ensues. 

"With a view of ascertaining if the gastric juice possesses any 
influence in counteracting the deleterious effects of putrefaction^ 
M. Bernard, after having contrived to obtain some of this juice 
through means of a stomach fistula, mixed it with an equal quan 
tity of putrid blood, leaving them together for eighteen hours, 
and then injecting the mixture into the jugular vein of a dog. 
The animal giving no signs of having felt any thing amiss, the 
conclusion was come to, that gastric juice was endowed with the 
power of neutralizing the deleterious action of the putrid fer- 
ment. Spallanzani had already shown that gastric juice was an 
antiseptic : this observation shows more — that the same juice 
has the power of robbing putrid matters of their hurtful qual- 
ities. 

" Under certain conditions putrid miasms prove highly active 
These conditions are, a sufficient quantity of the miasm, an ele- 
vated temperature, and, we must add, individual susceptibility. 

" We readily understand that, for the production of the disease- 
it is necessary that the miasm should exist in sufficient quantity. 
spread about in the air, and that the air reach the lungs sufficiently 
saturated for it to become introduced into the system. The heat 
also, at the time, ought to be perceptible and continuous. Yellow 
fever does not prevail in cold seasons. It is in countries where 
the air is warm and humid that putiid fermentation actively 
proceeds and acquires all its baneful properties M. Magendie, 
in his experiments, found that moi'e putrid matter was required 
to take effect in cold than in hot weather ; in addition to which, 
every individual has his peculiar insusceptibility, (resistance 
propre,) 

" So that the cause of disease called, not without reason, putrid, 
is to be sought in the introduction into the cinulation of putriq 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 329 

matters, be they in the liquid form, or in that of gas or vapor." — « 
Lectures delivered to the College of France, by M. Magendie. 

MELANOSIS. 

Melanosis exists in the form of tumor or tubercle of an irregu- 
lar shape ; and when cut into, presents a sort of black color 
There seem to be two kinds — one located in visceral organs 
and in the eye ; the other generally locates about the tail and 
under the common integument. Gray horses are more subject 
to it than those of any other color. The only treatment known 
to the author is, extirpation with the knife. 

Extirpation of two Melanotic Tumors from ihe Body of a Horse, 
while under the Influence of Chloroform. 

History of the Case, SfC — The subject, a gray stallion, aged 
nine years, the property of D. Hanlin, Harrison Avenue, was 
observed, about eighteen months since, to have small tumors, 
occupying a space known as the humeral region, (below the shoul- 
der blades.) They had gradually increased in size ; yet, as the 
horse was performing his ordinary duties without the least incon- 
venience, very little notice was taken of the matter, and the owner 
considered the swelling as nothing more than an " eyesore." Lat- 
terly, however, the horse had been used in the shafts ; and either 
in consequence of bruise, or friction from the shafts, the swelling 
had rapidly increased in size, so as to interfere with the normal 
action of the shoulder ; in consequence of which, our advice was 
6ought, and after an examination, we proposed an operation, to 
which the owner consented. 

Operation. — Friday, November 4, 1853. The patient was 
cast, off side up. Dr. Fletcher Oakes, of this city, kindly con- 
sented to superintend the administration of chloroform. A sponge, 
being saturated with two ounces of this article, was enclosed in a 
suitable breathing apparatus, and thus applied to the patient's 
nostrils. The quantity used during the operation was three and 
a half ounces. The pupils of the eyes being dilated, and sterto- 
rous breathing having commenced, a straight incision, of eleven 
inches in length, was made over the region occupied by tha 
28* 



830 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

tumors ; they were then dissected from their sub-cellular ai d mus 
cular attachments. The blood vessels cut during the operation 
being merely sub-cutaneous ramifications, it was not thought neces- 
sary to employ ligatures ; and the horse lost but a trifling amount 
of blood. The wound having been cleansed with cold water, its 
edges were brought together by interrupted sutures, and finely 
dressed with compound tincture of myrrh. The horse was shortly 
afterwards led to his stable. 

Description of the Tumors and their Location. — The first was 
of an ovoid form, measuring seventeen inches around its abort 
diameter, by seven inches in length, and weighed four pounds. 
On making a straight incision through its centre, it presented a 
black, pitchy appearance, and was composed of a somewhat dense, 
fibrous body, containing within its meshes a thick fluid, resem- 
bling coal tar, which left a black stain on the scalpel and fingers, 
easily removed, however, by water. This tumor was situated on 
the off side, in the " posterior inferior" region of the shoulder 
blade. 

The second tumor was of a similar form and character, and 
occupied the space immediately below the former ; it weighed a 
trifle over one pound. The large tumor was firmly imbedded in 
cellular tissue, and also bad a slight attachment to the common 
integument — its base being united to the intercostal muscles. 

Subsequent Treatment. — The wound made by the incision had 
done well up to the fifth day ; when, probably in consequence of 
an itching sensation, which usually attends the restoration of dis- 
eased parts, the animal's attention was directed thitherward, and 
for the relief of which he commenced rubbing himself against the 
Stall : this manoeuvre was, no doubt, rather pleasant than other' 
wise; his owner, however, happening to look in about thia 
time, put a stop to it, and rewarded our patient with a dressing 
He was then secured to the middle of a wide stall, by meaus of a 
halter on each side, and left for the night; during which he broke 
loose, and by means of his teeth tore out every stitch, and laid 
the wound fairly open. Next morning it presented a frightful 
looking chasm, from which was issuing a mixture of blood, pus, 
and serum very profuse and somewhat fetid; yet r notwithstand- 
ing this interruption of the healing process, the horse is so far 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 33) 

recovered as to be able to go to work — just four weeks after the 
operation. 

A twitch having been placed on the horse's nose for the pur« 
pose of directing his attention from what followed, the edges of 
the wound were again brought together by stitches, leaving at the 
base an orifice for the discharge of morbid matter. The parts 
were then dressed with a compound of aloes and myrrh ; a com- 
press of linen, saturated with the same, was applied, which 
was kept in position by means of a bandage encircling the chest. 
The dressing was renewed once in twenty-four hours until the 
third day, when a profuse discharge of healthy pus having taken 
place, the pad and bandage were omitted. About this time the 
off" fore limb became infiltrated, — dropsical, — attended with slight 
sympathetic fever ; for which he took 

Sulphur, 4 drachms, 

Cream of tartar, 2 drachms, 

Sassafras, 3 drachms. 

This was given as a drench, in thin gruel, for three successive 
days, with decided benefit. The cure was completed by the fre- 
quent application of equal parts of linseed oil and pyroligneous 
acid. The diet consisted of hay and scalded shorts, until the 
patient was able to take exercise ; when his regular allowance 
was served out. 



DISEASES OF THE HOOF AND LAMINA 

OBSERVATIONS ON THE HORSE'S HOOF. 

The external covering of the foot may be divided into four 
parts, viz., the wall, or crust, the bars, sole, and horny frog. The 
external portion, named crust, is adapted as a defence to the sen- 
sitive parts within. It is composed of small filaments, or hollow 
lubes, consolidated in such a manner as to preserve their canals 
distinct. These canals constitute the. excrementitious outlets of 
the hoof, through which morbific or waste matters make their 
sxit ; and in them may also be found the vessels by which the 



532 THE MODERN EORSE DOCTOR. 

horn is secreted. The small vessels arising from the vascular 
and nervous memhrane beneath the hoof,* which is considered aa 
a continuation of the true skin, enter also into these canals. The 
small vessels alluded to, technically called papilla, possess the 
properties of sensibility and conductibility. They are formed 
from cells, and have an allotted function to perform, for which, 
in their healthy state, they are all-sufficient, and for which no 
other class has or can perform without derangement to the parti. 

The bars are a continuation of the external portion just de- 
scribed. They form an angle at the heels, which terminate 
towards the toe. They serve to give strength and durability to 
the hoof, prevent contraction of the heels, and thus aid the hoof 
in protecting the soft and sensitive parts. The internal portion 
of the bars presents the same appearances as that of the crust 
They are held together by vital affinities, and so long as they 
maintain their normal integrity, the foot will preserve its form. 

Next in order is the sole. It is considered to be more elastic 
than the crust, and is the medium of the sensitive faculty, through 
which, together with its powers of elasticity, the percussion of 
the foot against the ground is regulated. 

The horny frog is still more elastic than either of the parts de- 
scribed, and any unnecessary " paring," on the part of the smith, 
is to be deprecated. 

On the internal portion of the parts just described we find a 
beautiful set of laminae, resembling those found on the under part 
of a mushroom : their number is said to be about five hundred, 
which articulate with a similar number given off from the cofiin 
bone. Each lamina, having two sides and an edge, forms a series 
of articulations, numbering about three thousand ! The whola 

* The nails of man correspond to the hoof of a horse, for they are formed of 
a 3ubstance analogous. If we examine cue nail under the microscope, wo shall 
find that it consists of hard, transparent, and somewhat clastic plates, which 
adhere to the vascular and nervous membrane of the papillae. The latter are 
arranged in longitudinal and parallel rows. The internal surface of the nail, 
like that of a hoof, is soft, pulpy, and marked with longitudinal grooves and 
prominences, corresponding to the lamina' found within the hoof. A sit'.ilai 
arrangement, possessing, however, exquisite sensibility, is found on that portion 
of the finger covcicd by the nail ; and, by this mutual adaptation, the const 0- 
tion between them is sustained. The nails are a continuation of the true *kin 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 33b 

presents a surface of four square feet. Hence the bodj' of a hors« 
rests upon sixteen square feet of surface within the hoof. 

The hx)f, we have already observed, serves as a defence to the 
sensitive parts within. It varies in size and thickness according 
to the age and condition of the animal. Its texture may be ren- 
dered hard or soft by the judicious application of therapeutic 
agents Its conformation may be altered, for better or worse, by 
proper attention to the laws of animal life, stable management, 
find skilful shoeing. 

When we see a poor dumb brute driven, hobbling along on. 
three legs, to the nearest blacksmith's shop, with a view of dis- 
covering the seat of lameness, and there subjected to the inquisi- 
torial process of pinching,* we have almost wished that the poor 
horse could exchange places with his tormentors. If the culti- 
vators of human medicine had adopted this brutal method of 
diagnosing a disease, it would have been natural to suppose that 
they were qualifying themselves as butchers. 

Some people seem to suppose that a horse's foot is as insensi- 
ble as a stone ; and when we see the smith wrenching off the 
shoes, often bringing away a portion of the hoof with them, and 
cutting off large pieces with as little care as a man would trim a 
log, then applying a red-hot shoe to the part, without any regard 
to the feelings of the animal, — under these circumstances it would 
appear to justify the conclusion that the foot is, really, insuscep- 
tible to feeling. 

Many of our readers have, probably, had occasion to deplore 
the present barbarous system of shoeing. Dear-bought experi- 
ence may have taught them a lesson which they are not likely to 
forget. The Hon. M. P. Wilder, in a letter to the author on this 
subject, remarks, '* I know of no greater evidence of inhumanity 
to that noble animal, the horse, than the almost universal custom 
of paring down the foot and burning on the shoe. It has ever, to 
my mind, been among the barbarisms of the age, and which I 
trust will no longer be countenanced by civilized society. I sym- 
pathize with your efforts to correct this, and other equally 

* Which consists in grasping the foot between the points of a pair of pincers, 
and applying them vigorously to every part of the hoof until a tender spot it 
found, (produced !) 



334 THE MODERN HO*<SE DOCTOR. 

dangerous practices, in the administration of destructive Jneih 
cuies ; and I hope your efforts will be crowned with success." 

TREADS AND OVERREACHES. 

A tread, or calk, is an injury inflicted on one foot by the 
u calkin " — or, as often happens, the edge of the shoe — on 
another foot, producing a contused wound, which is often trouble- 
some to heal. This sort of injury differs from any incised 
wound, inasmuch as it is a sort of bruise by which the surround- 
ing parts are lacerated and violently torn from their horny at- 
tachments, and the wound, although simple in appearance, is of 
such a complicated nature that it often requires several weeks tc 
restore the parts to a healthy state. 

The treatment consists in allaying irritation, removing the 
dead parts, and promoting granulation. We first apply a poul- 
tice of carrots ; then, with a pair of scissors, remove any partly- 
separated portions of skin or hoof. The wound is then dressed 
with Turlington's balsam. We generally, however, first sprinkle 
the chasm with a portion of finely-pulverized myrrh : this sub- 
stance forms a coating over the newly-formed granulations, and 
protects them from injury. 

In the winter season, a calk, unless attended to early, often 
becomes a serious affair. During the past two years, a foot dis- 
ease of a very malignant character has prevailed around Boston. 
It sometimes appears without any apparent cause, except slight 
febrile symptoms ; at others, a calk seems to be the exciring 
cause ; the disease speedily extends above the coronet and with- 
in the hoof. It is a species of inflammatory gangrene, and is 
generally attended with sympathetic and occasionally typhoid 
fevers. The best local remedy is, a mixture of pulverized cbir- 
coal and fir balsam ; the constitutional treatment according to the 
nature of the case. 

Whenever a horse is calked, the chasm should be cleansed 
und filled up with fir balsam. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. S8S 



QUARTER CRACK. — {Fissure in the Quarter of the Hoof.) 

All horsemen understand what is meant by qua -ter crack. It 
oonsist-s of a loss of continuity in the fibres of the hoof, leaving v. 
opening through its substance. It generally occurs in the forei 
although often in the hind feet. A fissure of this kind is not eon° 
sidered of much : mportance; yet, after the cure has been effect- 
ed, there remains a cicatrix, which is, by some horse dealers, 
looked upon as an eyesore ; and they often refuse to purchase an 
otherwise perfect animal solely on this account. 

If the crack be only a simple fissure, and does not extend to 
the sensitive parts of the hoof, there is no perceptible lameness ; 
hence, when such a fissure is first observed, it should be at once 
attended to, in order to prevent lameness, which, however, is 
generally slight. For causes and treatment, see next article. 

TOE CRACK. — (Fissure in the Longitudinal Fibres of the Fore Part oj 
the Hoof.) 

The hind feet are generally supposed to be the seat of this 
defect, yet it very frequently occurs in the fore feet. When it 
occurs in the hind feet, or foot, there is generally considerable 
lameness present ; and the subject has frequently to be laid up 
for a few days, or else perform his labor with a hobbling gait, 
very distressing to himself and mortifying to his driver. 

When the crack extends from the coronet down to the toe, 
and a complete division of the horny fibres takes place, so that 
the sensitive lamince are exposed, a discharge of small quantities 
of blood, and finally of matter, takes place. The subjec t is then, 
of course, too lame for work, and must have immediate attention. 

Causes of Quarter and Toe Cracks. — The fact that the parte 
do crack, would go to show that there must exist some brittle- 
ness in the hoof. This may arise from two causes : first, from a 
want of healthy action in the nutritive and secretory vessels of 
the foot ; secondly, from the common custom of rasping the waQi 
of the hoof, and otherwise mutilating the foot in shoeing. 

Still it may arise from contraction of the parts, from a narrow 



136 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

heeled shoe, from congestion and deep-seated disease within the 
hoof. In short, any sort of work, management, or system of 
shoeing, that tends to dry up the natural moisture of the foot, 
may be considered a direct cause of contraction. Predisposing 
causes may also exist in breed. It is well known that some 
animals are foaled marked with the parent's deformity — con. 
tracted quarters, for instance ; and such are, more especially 
than others, liable to quarter crack. This affords a reason why 
horses, not predisposed, escape the evils alluded to, and others 
not enumerated ; as in, for instance, a dry, sandy country, on 
shipboard, or in hot stables with dry floors. 

Mr. Percivall says, that " greater attention to shoeing and in 
?reased care about the condition of the hoof itself have, no doubt, 
had very beneficial effects in the prevention both of contraction 
h.nd quarter crack." The same author thus alludes to the causes 
of toe crack, or toe sand crack, as English surgeons term it. 
" Toe sand cracks are caused by violence. Shoeing, also, may 
have something to do in its production. The horses, which are 
the subjects of it, are those which are employed in laborious or 
straining draughts. The toe of the hind foot is the grand ful- 
crum through which the hind limbs, the propellers of the body, 
exert their power ; and it is in some violent and forcible effort 
that the hind hoof, strained as it is to its uttermost, and particu- 
larly at the toe, splits, commonly first at the coronet ; the same 
as in the fore foot, where the horn, but newly formed, is thin and 
unresisting ; the crack subsequently extending gradually down 
the wall, even as far as the point of the toe. 

M Digging the point of the toe into the ground, or stamping it 
hard dowm upon the pavement, (and especially when this stress 
upon the fore part of the wall is at all times promoted by high 
lalkins to the shoe,) must certainly, one would think, be the 
main producer of toe sand crack — an opinion still further fa- 
vored by the observation which has been made of shaft horses in 
drays, being more subject to the accident than trace horses. 
Still, however, for all this, it behooves me to say, that with tht 
best judges of such matters, the point is one not yet free from 
doubt and difference of thinking. Short and upright pasterns, 
with clubby prominent hoof's, indicate a predisposition to to*» 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 387 

sand crack ; the disease being in no instance seen in flat, shelvy, 
oblique hoofs. 

" It is said sand cracks may originate in tread. Undoubtedly, 
any lesion of the coronary body sufficient to injure or destroy its 
secretory apparatus, may occasion imperfect or morbid secretion 
of horn, or loss of form altogether ; but I do not believe this to 
be a very common cause of sand crack." 

Treatment of Toe Crack. — It is generally customary in this 
| art of the country to call in the aid of the blacksmith to repair 
u toe crack, which he does in the following manner : if the fissure 
is only a partial one, that is, commences a short distance below 
the coronet, and only extends part of the way down the wall, a 
red-hot iron, having a sharp edge, is drawn across the upper and 
lower parts of the crack, and sometimes down the crack itself; 
with a view of destroying any morbid matter that may exist in 
the fissure. A crack fixed after this fashion is called cross firing. 
If the fissure extends from the coronet right down to the toe, 
two or three pieces of wire are passed through the edges of 
each half of the hoof, through holes drilled for that purpose, 
and the fissure is thus riveted together. The operation requires 
some skill on the part of the blacksmith ; for if he should bore 
*he holes too deep, the sensitive laminoe might be included, 
and thus protract the cure. Some physicians recommend en- 
circling the hoof with waxed twine, instead of riveting, with a 
view of restricting any tendency to expand at the toe, when, by 
its pressure on the heels, it might favor their contraction, and 
theiefore cannot be of much use. Of the two, we should prefer 
riveting, if performed by a skilful workman. 

But why not close the crack by interrupted sutures, after the 
following fashion : good substantial waxed threads answer the 
sain 3 purpose as iron rivets, and are far preferable, because they 
can be sc easily removed ifter having fulfilled their intention. 
We have made but one trial of this kind. The case turned out 
well ; still a single experiment is not sufficient to establish its 
superiority over other methods. 

The best practice would be, first, to poultice the foot, (suppos- 
ing the shoe to have been removed,) with a view of softening the 
Hoof and removing any extraneous matter that may have insinu- 
29 



833 THE MODERN HOUSE DOCTOR. 

ated itself into the crack. When the ho>f is sufficiently softened 
it should be cleansed, examined, and dressed with tincture of 
myrrh. Select a spot about an inch below the coronet, and with 
a small gimlet bore a hole through the two edges of the crack, and 
another one inch above the toe. A straight needle, i.rmed with 
a 6trong ligature, is to be passed through the upper holes, 
brought over and through a second time ; thus closing the two 
e Iges of the fissure by what the sailors term a " round turn." Tie 
same thing is to be repeated at the toe. The assistant, by the 
aid of pincers or otherwise, shuts the crack as close as possible ; 
the ligatures are each drawn tight, and tied with a surgeon's 
knot. A small quantity of blister ointment is to be smeared 
over the crack, and bar shoe applied. A quarter crack may be 
treated in a similar manner, omitting, however, the sutures. 

The cure is accomplished in two ways — first, by fusion ; sec- 
ondly, by the growth of new horn from the matrix downwards. 
After the edges have firmly united, cut the ligatures, and 
pare the uneven edges of the cicatrix level with the surrounding 
parts, and the cure is completed. 

QTTITTOR. 

Quittor is a fistulous opening running between the sensible 
and insensible laminae of the foot ; the opening, or sinus, runs in 
various directions downward ; at other times, the lateral carti- 
lages are in connection with it, and become diseased. It gen- 
erally m^.kes its appearance on the inside of the foot, near the 
matrix ol the hoof. In such case, its origin is from bruise or 
wound. It arises also from pricks in shoeing, gravel, neglf clod 
i*orns, &c. Should a nail enter the sensitive laminas of the foot, 
and cause suppuration, and the lower outlet become plugged up, 
the matter moves upward, burrowing through the tissues, until it 
gains exit above the hoof. This is a true quittor. A disease 
of this character is often very difficult to heal, unless attended 
to in its early stage ; and a practitioner gains but very little 
credit in curing such, because he has been so long about it. 
It frequently happens that we not only have the quittor to con 
tend with, but considerable tumefaction and morbid enlargement 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 33l< 

id tiie parts above the hoof, against which the horse is apt to 
strike the other foot, and thus excite persistent inflammation, 
leaving a denuded, uneven, sanguineous sore, very difficult tc 
heal ; for if the animal does not bruise it with the other foot, he 
lacerates it in lying down or getting up. If we attempt to pro- 
tect it from this sort of injuries, our only resource is bandage ; 
and we have remarked, in another part of this work, that band- 
ages do not agree with horseflesh, when applied to denuded 
surfaces ; therefore such cases require considerable tact and 
patience. 

Treatment. — We first examine the sinus by means of a small- 
sized, flexible bougie, such as are used on young persons. Being 
flexible, we are enabled to trace the cavity, whatever direction it 
may take. Having discovered that, we make up our mind as to 
the treatment. Should it descend towards the sole, it is caused 
either by prick, corn, or gravel, which can be ascertained on care- 
ful examination. In order to make such, we remove the shoe 
pare the foot, and perhaps poultice it, with the double object of 
softening the hoof and removing obstructions to the lower outlet, 
if any there be. Whether the cause be evident or not, we waste 
no time in injecting the sinus, (which is practised by many,) but 
make a small opening in the sole, as near the base of the sinus 
as possible, and invite a discharge from it by means of a poultice 
placed only in contact with the sole. A free discharge once 
secured from the lower outlet, we have no fears of a cure. So 
60on as a discharge sets up, inject from below strong tinc- 
ture of bloodroot, two or three times, and then sprinkle some 
bloodroot in the cavity ; there is no need of any bandage ; let 
the matter have free vent. The upper orifice will now close 5 
it is only necessary to moisten this region with compound tine 
hire of aloes, or some other traumatic. 

We have tried all manner of ways to cure quittor, and find 
th^re is nothing like making an opening below the sinus. A bad 
case, however, will generally require time, and some variation 
in the treatment, according to the nature of the case. We must 
not, in our attention to the foot, overlook the horse ; his health 
must be attended to; an occasional dose of alterative medicine" 
(sulphur and sassafras) may be given, and the common allowance 



840 THE MODERN HOKSK DOCTOR. 

of food shonld be lessened. When the sinuses are superficial, 
and do not extend beyond the coronal region, injections may 
be tried : among the most efficient are solution of alum, zinc, and 
sulphate of iron ; tincture of muriate of iron, and tincture of blood- 
root. In some cases, however, the knife will be required. 

PUMICE FOOT. 

Pumice foot is an aggravated form of convex sole, attended 
frith a morbid condition of the parts and laminal dislocation 
We now and then see an aged animal, which has long been the 
subject of chronic disease on the fore feet, presenting actual pro- 
trusion of the coffin bone, forwards, between the wall of the hoof 
and sole ; and the bone is of a spongy character, studded with 
crystallizations, composed of phosphate of lime, &c. The disease 
also occurs in animals that have led a sort of fast life ; that have 
been trained r or the course ere they had attained maturity ; pam- 
pered and fed on highly nutritious grain, and driven at times be- 
yond endurance, until a morbid habit is firmly established, which 
may affect the feet either directly or metastatically. The pa- 
thology of pumice sole, says Mr. Percivall, amounts to this • " In 
consequence of inflammation in them, be that inflammation acute 
>r sub-acute, the sensitive lamina?, from causes which have already 
oeen detailed, become detached from their union with the horny 
lamina?, and the coffin bone, losing its ties of suspension, is pressed 
down by the weight upon the horny sole, which, unable to bear 
the burden thus unnaturally transmitted to it, bulges, and either 
immediately or some short time afterwards bursts, and lets the 
toe of the coffin bone, with its covering of sensitive sole, through 
its breach. This, and this state of foot alone, it is, either actually 
present or impending, which properly constitutes pumice foot. 
Flat feet, nay, even convex and fleshy feet, do not of themselves 
amount to pumice, but, on the contrary, may exist independently 
of it. They may be, and are, dependent upon altered states o^ 
the hoof alone ; whereas pumice foot consists in disorganizatiou 
of the interior economy of the foot ; in altered structure and rehv 
tive situation of the parts within the hoof, and in partial escapu 
■jt them. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 34/ 

" Pumice Sole can have but one Origin. — Its existence is de 
monstrative proof either of the presence or of the preexistenc* 
of laminitis, in the acute or sub-acute form. Those dovetailed 
and intimate bonds of union between the sensitive and horny 
laminae which hardly any amount of mechanical force can, in situ^ 
rend asunder, gradually lose their hold under the action of in- 
flammation, and let the coffin bone down upon the horny sole. 
This, as we have seen, may result either from acute or sub-acute 
laminitis, but with these notable differences, — that, whereas, 
under acute inflammation, pumice foot is rapid, sometimes sudden, 
always decided in its occurrence ; under sub-acute inflammation 
its approach is tardy and stealthy, and for some time doubtful and 
indeterminable. Indeed, in the latter it often happens that the 
sinking of the sole is the first intimation we obtain of the presence 
of the disease. The horse may have been observed to step short 
or gingerly, compared to his usual style of going, and this is 
succeeded by tenderness of tread to that degree that continuance 
at work becomes impossible ; under which circumstance we are 
called to examine his feet, and to the surprise, probably, of the 
owner, find the soles either actually sunk or showing unmistaka- 
ble signs of sinking. Pumice sole resulting from acute laminitis 
is, as we have seen, though at all times a lamentable affair, a 
more complicated and serious one still, from its so frequently 
having suppuration of the foot as an accompaniment ; and when 
this proves to be the case, all prospect of remedy may be said to 
be at an end. It is not so, however, in the case wherein pumice 
foot follows a sub-acute or low kind of inflammation. Here there 
is not the tendency to suppuration, but rather to adhesive action; 
and this it is that on occasions invites us to take the case under 
treatment, and now and then we succeed in restoring the integrity 
of the breach and soundness of the sole. But this, I am reluc 
tartly forced to add, is but a rare issue, compared with the states 
of pumice sole which defy our art at effecting such restoration of 
them as will render the feet again useful for work. 

" The Treatment of Pumice Sole — when the case happens to 
be of such a nature as to inspire us with hope through judicious 
and careful management of it — obviously presents to us two ob- 
jects for consideration ; the first being the healing of the wjund, 
29 



342 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

and closing of the breach in the sole to which it owes its exinfr 
ence ; the second, the elevation of the coffin bone, and its adjust- 
ment, as far as we can, in its natural position. I say ' position/ 
for as to r orcing up the bone into its proper place again, of course 
that is a matter entirely out of the range of possibility. When 
once complete separation of the lamina? has taken place, no power 
we possess can restore their union ; indeed, no means can be 
employed to effect so much as we may be able to accomplish to- 
wards the raising up of the bone before we have completely 
restored the integrity of the sole, and made the part where the 
breach existed sound and firm, and able without pain to bear 
cressure. 

" For the Healing of the Wound, the continued application of 
poultices will be found beneficial so long as any annoying inflam- 
matory action is lurking about the foot, and so long as the wound 
itself puts on a healthy aspect, and seems disposed to granulate, 
or actually is granulating. But whenever such is not its charac- 
ter, and particularly when its surface looks pallid, and the circu- 
lation through it appears languid, stimulating and detergent 
dressings ought to be substituted for the poultices. 

" Of the various Kinds of Dressings in ordinary use for the pur- 
pose of promoting the healing of foot wounds, and their subsequent 
coating by a sound secretion of horn, none are found to answer 
well, unless they be, through some suitable contrivance, firmly 
bound upon the ulcerated surface, so as to give as much pressure 
to it as the animal can bear. Pressure to the extent of produ- 
cing pain is injurious ; but the utmost degree short of this is uni- 
formly found to be attended with the happiest effects. In short, 
wi.hout concomitant pressure, the most extolled dressings will 
seldom prove of much avail. If the hoof be cool, and it is con- 
sidered that a light shoe can be worn without hurt, providing it 
be put on with small nails driven through parts of the crust aide 
to bear the concussion of the hammer and to hold such nails, gnat 
advantage will be derived from it, inasmuch as it will afford very 
convenient means for employing such pressure as is fo'inJ so 
salutary and effectual. This is to be managed by obtaining r.vo 
or more pieces of iron hooping, cut into lengths to admit of being 
placed diagonally across the sole, and of bein<- confined in that 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 343 

situation through their ends being driven for stays between the 
web of the shoe and the sole. They should be so placed as t« 
cross each other opposite to the part where the dressing is, that 
being previously covered with as many thicknesses of tow as 
become requisite for the necessary pressure. After the hoop- 
iron stays are arranged so as to give firm and steady support to 
the tow underneath them, they may be, at the point of crossing, 
well hammered down upon the foot ; an operation which will serve 
to accommodate them more completely to their situation, at the 
Bame time that it operates in giving additional pressure, which 
will be maintained when the foot comes to be set upon the ground 
by the standing of the horse upon the compressed dressing. 

"In regard to the best medicament to apply, providing the 
exposed parts of the sensitive sole be — as they commonly are — 
in a healthy condition, stimulating applications agree best, and 
no one in the class exceeds in efficacy the ol. terebinthinas. 
This, under the influence of pressure, will generally of itself 
bring about all we desire ; though, should any change of dressing 
be deemed desirable, we may use either tinct. benzoin co., 
or tinct. myrrhas co. Should any signs of unhealthiness or ma- 
lignancy — a rare occurrence — make their appearance, escha- 
rotic stimulants, such as solutions of copper and zinc, and even of 
mercury, might be employed. An astringent, such as solution 
of alum, or a detergent in the form of chloride of lime, may also 
occasionally be required. 

" Having succeeded in healing the wound and causing the 
breach to be covered over with sound though soft horn, a dossil of 
dry tow well pressed down will be all that will be further needed to 
keep the dirt and wet from the parts, and to harden and prepare 
them for being finally stopped and protected from injury when 
the horse shall be permitted to take exercise or go to work. The 
new -formed sole being now sound and tolerably firm and hard, 
should a shoe have not been nailed on the foot before, now is the 
time for one to be put on ; and the shoe best for such a descrip- 
tion of foot is that which will, either of itself or through additions 
made to it, enable us to give that amount of pressure upoa the 
sole which is found to be so requisite for the purposes of support 
and uplifting of the descended coffin bone, to the extent possible. 



344 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

into some proximity to its original place. Whether we really 
possess any such power as will effect this, may very properly be 
made the subject of doubt; but that we can, by pressure and 
support to the sole, prevent any further descent of it, should that 
appear likely to happen, is beyond a question. A broad-web 
shoe — such a one as Plomley's of Maidstone — is a good one for 
this purpose ; and this should be plugged internally with stopping, 
intermingled with tow, the two together forming a compressible 
pillow, upon which reposes with ease and firmness the as yet 
tender sole of the foot. Over the stopping and tow should be 
placed, and nailed on with the shoe, a stiff piece of sole leather. 
Or, which some prefer, after the shoe is nailed on, a piece of 
gutta percha, cut of smaller size than the circumference of the 
shoe, may, after being softened in hot water, be kneaded in upon 
the sole, over the stopping, with the thumb, and pressed around 
the edge sufficiently underneath the web of the shoe to maintain 
its hold. With his foot thus shod, and cushioned, and protected, 
the horse may return gradually to hard work. 

" Instead of *he broad-web, heavy shoe, it may be advisable, in 
a case where t .e foot is thin of horn and the crust apt to break 
away, to substitute a shoe as light as it can be made consistent 
with its purpose. A shoe made narrow but thick in the web will 
sometimes be found to answer very well when used in conjunc- 
tion with leather or gutta percha in the manner before directed, 
euch a shoe possessing the advantage of being held on by smaller 
and fewer nails than the broad shoe requires. And when- 
ever we meet with a foot of such description, with thin and weak 
or brittle crust, we are not to be particular as to either the num- 
ber of the nails used to keep the shoe on, or the situations thoy 
occupy through the hoof; for sometimes it becomes necessary to 
nail the shoe all round in order to fix it firmly for work, and to 
make use, for the purpose, of double or even of triple the number 
of (small) nails we ordinarily insert. In fact, if the horse is to 
go to work in it, the shoe must be secured at any multiplicity 
and variety of nailing, and clipping in addition, save that of doing 
positive injury to the foot." 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 34* 



FOOT ROT. 

A disease to which some have given the ahove name made 
its appearance in the city of Boston in the winter of 1853, 
and is at the present time prevailing in different parts of the 
state. It appears to spread after the manner of sporadic dis- 
eases, and prevails chiefly among horses of coarse breed, with 
clumsy feet, brought on in some cases by " hard usage and sore 
abuse" The disease luxuriates in stables that are filthy, damp, 
and unventilated, and among horses that are constantly exposed 
to all sorts of weather ; for it is seldom that we hear any thing 
of the disease prevailing in horses of superior breed, located in 
comfortable stables, where they are supposed to have that care 
and attention so necessary for the preservation of health ; yet, 
however potent the above causes may be, they are not in all 
cases direct, but merely approximating. It has been observed 
that this peculiar disease often follows injuries of the foot by 
calking — from puncture by nail or otherwise. Here we seem to 
have a direct cause, which may be termed special ; for such en- 
gender distinct disease. From the fact, however, that the disease 
is not prevalent in the summer months, we are led to infer that 
the combinations of cold, moisture, and bad management are 
more prolific of it than any other cause. The term foot rot does 
not convey any definite idea of the nature of the affection, but 
merely implies a state of rottenness, similar to that occurring in 
sheep and cattle ; whereas this disease varies, and often passes 
through several stages ere rottenness (gangrene) sets in. Some 
subjects are attacked suddenly with disease of the plantar ab- 
sorbents — deep-seated lymphatitis. In the course of a few days 
— sometimes hours — a profuse discharge of matter, resembling 
lymph, from the coronet takes place, and inflammatory gangrene 
supervenes. Or a horse will all at once be seized with lame- 
ness, continually catching up the foot, and in 'he course of a few 
hours pus is seen to ooze from the orifice. Here we have two 
stages of a disease which may progress to rot or gangrene, viz., 
inflammatory, characterized by heat, pain, and lameness ; sup* 
purative, of which the discharge of pus is proof positive. Thf 



l'46 the modern horse doctok. 

finale is a gangrenous state, characterized by transformations and 
death of the tissues of the foot. The name of this disease 
should, therefore, be conferred in accordance with the notablo 
changes that occur throughout its progress : they are inflamma- 
tion, suppuration, gangrene and it often happens that the abnor- 
mal process is arrested in either one or the other of the first 
stages, although it is prone to run into gangrenes. These char- 
acteristic symptoms furnish a title for the disease ; and should 
death supervene, whether in the inflammatory, suppurative, or 
putrid stages, the name of the disease will be that of the cause 
of death ; so that foot rot — if it imply a rotten, putrid, or gan- 
grenous state — should be termed inflammatory gangrene, which 
is produced by extravasated blood, or rather fluids, they rapidly 
passing into a state of decomposition, thus destroying the vitality 
of those tissues — the laminag of the foot — so that the hoof fre- 
quently separates from its attachments and falls off. 

Case. — A horse, the property of Mr. Doolittle, doing business 
in Ivers Street, was punctured by picking up a nail ; it entered 
the sole midway between the point of the frog and the toe of the 
off hind foot : it was dressed in the usual manner by a black- 
smith. On the following day the author was requested to see 
the animal. He was found standing on three legs ; the affected 
limb drawn up towards the body ; the foot very hot and painful ; 
th-3 flank on that side bedewed with perspiration ; pulse quick and 
ji rking ; mouth hot and clammy : in short, sympathetic fever had 
set in. On removing the shoe and dressings, a small quantity 
of pus streaked with blood oozed out of the puncture, on dilating 
which with a drawing knife, a very profuse discharge followed. 
Two or three poultices, of an antiseptic and astringent charac- 
ter, were applied. Chloride of soda, salt and vinegar, fir bal- 
sam, solution of alum, zinc, and such constitutional remedies as 
the case seemed to require, were resorted to ; but all to no pur- 
pose : the horse grew rapidly worse ; a thin, aqueous, and acrid 
discharge from the quarters and coronet took place, which finally 
beparated the hoof from its matrix : the discharge degenerated 
until it became of a dark reddish color, very offensive. The 
tissues above the hoof underwent cellular transformations, and 
bulged out about an inch or more beyond their ordinary limits. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 34? 

having hero and there deep gangrenous ulcerations. Thus did 
the disease progress (apparently unchecked by medical treatment, 
which had often proved successful) until the eleventh day from 
the time of the injury, when, on making an effort to get up, a 
complete separation of hoof from foot took place. Mr. D. im- 
mediately ordered the animal to be put out of his misery, and 
he was accordingly destroyed. This disease we have termed 
inflammatory gangrene ; and although it rarely runs so rapid a 
tourse, or attains so malignant a type, it is the one commonly 
known as foot rot. 

Ordinarily, and in other than the cold season, puncture of the 
foot, by nail or otherwise, is followed by healthy suppuration 
and discharge, and the parts resume very nearly their original 
condition ; but in the case just alluded to, the suppuration was 
from the first unhealthy, and attended with a positive loss of 
laminal continuity, ulceration, and gangrene. 

Treatment. — It is useless to lay down any particular plan of 
treatment, for that must depend on the nature, stage, and inten- 
sity of the disease. The principal local remedies are, — 

1. Antiseptics. — Pyroligneous acid, charcoal, chloride of soda, 
and lime. 

2. Astringents. — Tincture of muriate of iron, sulphate of zinc 
and of iron, bay berry bark, gum catechu. 

3. Remedies to relieve Pain. — Chloroform, sulphuric ether 
tincture of Indian hemp, infusion of hops or poppy heads. 

4. Constitutional Remedies. — Tonics and alteratives. (See 
Medicinal Preparations.) In cases that indicate poultices, substi- 
tute fir balsam. 

CORNS. 

Corns generally make their appearance in the inner heel, 
within the bar and crust, at or near their junction. We find 
that a great number of horses are afflicted in this way ; and it is 
supposed that an imperfect system of shoeing has more to do 
with the production of corn than any thing else. The following 
article from White's Dictionary may possibly furnish the reader 
a better idea of the nature and treatment of corns than the »u 
ihor of this work can give : — - 



348 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

" In their recent state corns generally cause some degree of 
tenderness, though not amounting to actual lameness. If nol 
attended to at this period, the horse soon becomes lame ; and 
when the shoe is removed for examination, the horny matter in 
the part described will be found, upon scraping off the exterior 
6urface, of a dark -red color, to a greater or less extent, accord- 
ing to the length of time it has existed, or rather to the degree 
of injury the sensible parts have sustained. If the shoe be not 
removed at this stage of the disease, which sometimes happens 
from a supposition that the lameness arises from some other 
cause, its continued pressure on the tender part, or corn, will at 
length cause matter to form, which, finding no vent beneath, as- 
cends to the coronet, where it breaks out. Even this is sometimes 
mistaken for a tread, or blow from the other foot, while the real 
cause is lost sight of. In the treatment of corns in their recent 
state, or before suppuration has taken place, the method gener- 
ally adopted is to pare out the red part, or what is termed the 
corn, and so contrive the shoe that, when applied to the foot, it 
may have no bearing on the tender part. This, in slight cases, 
generally affords temporary relief, and enables the horse to go 
to work again : in a short time, however, the horse's weight 
causes the shoe again to rest upon the heel, and the inflamma- 
tion and lameness of course return. The only effectual mode of 
taking off pressure from the heel is by means of the bar shoe , 
and this can only be applied where the frog is sufficiently promi- 
nent and firm to receive its pressure. For should the frog be 
considerably lower than the heels, (that is, supposing the foot to 
be taken up, and its bottom part held upward,) it must be obvi- 
ous that the bar shoe cannot bear upon it, and will therefore be 
useless. The only thing to be done in this case is to pare away 
the crust of the tender heel, so that the heel of a common shoe 
may not rest upon it. I am aware that the original cause of 
corns is often a natural weakness of the iuner heel, or a want of 
sufficient strength in the horn to protect the sensible parts from 
the pressure of the shoe. It is from this consideration, perhaps, 
that Mr. Budd observes, 'We have frequently seen the plan of 
cutting away the horn (in corns) followed with avidity, on ac- 
count of the temporary relief U affords ; such a plan, however 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 349 

is deceitful, and dictated by too shallow an idea of the complaint ; 
for though it gives time for the removal of it when existing, stili 
it leaves what may be termed an increased disposition to it, be- 
cause it deprives the sensitive parts of the protection of which 
they already stood too much in need ; and we have no hesitation 
in saying, that it is from this mode of treatment solely that some 
horses are so frequently and indeed almost constantly affected. 
The best plan, therefore, which can be followed, is to appty a bat 
shoe, as this affords more ample means of throwing the pressure 
o'd the affected parts ; no excision of the horn, we repeat, ought 
to be resorted to, unless there is reason to believe that suppura- 
tion has taken place.' If no horn is to be pared away in corns, 
what, I would ask, is to be done in circumstances where the bar 
shoe cannot be employed ? that is, where the frog is much lower 
than the heels, or too rotten and tender to bear pressure. Mr. 
Budd tells us that the shoe is to be ' laid off the part ; ' that is, 
the shoe is to be so formed, that when applied to the foot it may 
not be in contact with the tender heel : this may afford temporary 
relief, but by one day's work the shoe will be brought to its origi- 
nal form. I am inclined to believe that corns are often rendered 
inveterate by trusting to such ineffectual means ; for the propri- 
etor, finding his horse relieved, sets off perhaps on a journey ; 
the shoe soon bears down upon the heel again, and the bruise or 
corn is much aggravated ; by dint of spur and whip, however 
the horse is compelled to go on ; and when he arrives at the end 
of the stage, so high a degree of inflammation will perhaps have 
taken place that suppuration cannot be prevented. The only 
mode, I conceive, by which a corn can be either cured or palli- 
ated, is to take off all pressure from the diseased parts ; and this 
not only for a short time, but till the injured sensible part haa 
lost its tenderness, and formed horn of sufficient strength to en- 
able it to bear pressure. While a horse is worked, the ehoe 
should be frequently examined ; and whenever the heel appears 
to be so near the diseased part as to be in danger of bearing on 
it, it should be immediately removed, and some more horn pared 
away, so as to have a considerable vacancy between the heel 
of the hoof and the heel of the shoe ; for even if a bar shoe ig 
upplied, the horn will in time grow down, so as to be in contact 
30 



350 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

with the heel of the shoe. When a horse becomes very lama 
from a corn, it will be advisable to leave off the shoe for a short 
time, and apply a large bran poultice. When tenderness is per- 
ceived about the coronet, and a little matter is seen oozing out 
from the horn at the heel, it should be pared away, that the mat- 
ter may escape freely. The exposed part may be dressed at 
first with a solution of blue or white vitriol ; afterwards with 
tincture of myrrh, or friar's balsam." 

BRUISE Or THE SOLE. 

Horses, in travelling over hard, uneven roads, are very apt to 
cast a shoe. The sole then, being unprotected, becomes bruised, 
and by the time the horse has arrived at home, or at the nearest 
smith's, he is quite lame. On making an examination of the foot, 
it will be found hot and painful. The best remedies, in view of 
immediate relief, are rest and cold water. The latter may be 
applied by means of a piece of flannel, tied fringe-like, but loose, 
around the fetlock, and kept constantly wet. It is probable that, 
in cold weather, rest alone will perform a cure ; if it should not, 
immerse the foot in tepid water twice a day. 

THRUSH. 

Thrush, or, as some call it, /rush, is a disease of the horse's 
hoof very prevalent in the United States ; it is a disease so well 
known among horsemen that any description of it seems super- 
fluous. Its diagnostic symptoms are, foetid odor, and morbid 
exudation from the frog, accompanied with softening of the same 
For a common thrush, which does not occasion lameness, the 
remedy is cleanliness : let the feel be washed night and morning, 
and occasionally immersed in salt and water; the trouble will then 
disappear. In inveterate cases of this kind, u«r object must be to 
prevent decomposition — in the use of antiseptics: a charcoal 
poultice now and then, and the free use of pyroligneous acid, and 
salt, are the best means. A few doses of the following compo- 
sition will aleo be needed : sassafras, sulpl jr, salt, and charcoal, 
equal parts. Dose, one ounc." daily. A dressing of fir balsam 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 851 

may be applied to the frog and sole, which is to be confined there 
In the usual manner. Thrush is often the result of morbid habil 
in the system of the horse, giving rise to an excess of morbific 
products, which naturally gravitate to the feet, and there find an 
outlet ; therefore we should not be in too much of a hurry to stop 
BU(h issue, for by so doing, the matter may be reabsorbed, and 
produce sympathetic fev3r, swollen legs, &c. The safest way, 
therefore, is to treat the disease both locally and constitutionally. 

ACUTE INFLAMMATION OF THE FEET — {Laminitis.) 

Acute inflammation of the feet differs very little in its physical 
phenomena from inflammation in other parts of the system, ex- 
cept in the former it appears more complete and permanent. Of 
the agents which produce laminitis, which cause more blood to 
flow into the vessels of the foot, which regulate their enlargement 
oj constriction, and finally induce effusion of serum, lymph, or 
fibrin, and produce alterations in the structure of the foot, much 
tas been conjectured, yet very little is known. It may be safe 
for us to argue, however, that the same causes that operate in 
producing inflammatory action in other parts are all-sufficient in 
laminitis. In acute laminitis we have an afflux of blood, from 
which arises that feverish heat known as fever in the foot : the 
development of heat being directly proportioned to the activity 
and fulness of the circulation — heat is accompanied with redness 
and pain ; increased pulsation in arteries leading to the foot : this 
increased pulsation seems due to obstruction in channels through 
which blood usually circulates with freedom, while the same or 
even an augmented force continues to impel it. "We next observe 
effusion of serum, lymph, and fibrin ; though we repeat tha; 
laminitis does not differ from inflammation it some other parts. 
The varieties of laminitis are acute and subacute ; the former 
follows excessive work : in such cases the system becomes ex- 
hausted; then follows local increase of blood in consequence of 
weakness in the propelling forces — lungs, heart, and capillaries. 
When acute laminitis follows a long drive on hard ground or 
pavement, or violence of any sort, including long-continued paw- 
ing or stampirg, the ^ood is determined to the feet by a high and 



352 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

permanent grade of vital action ; which is apt to end in change 
uf structure- The acute form is invariably attended with sympto- 
matic phenomena, so that the patient exhibits all the symptoms 
of a high fever, attended with intense agony and disturbance of 
the normal functions. On the other hand subacute laminitis is 
not so intense nor dangerous, and it differs somewhat in its mode 
of attack; it has occasionally a metastatic origin — that is, when 
disease is transferred to a new seat. For example, a horse suf- 
fering from pneumonia may be suddenly relieved on the super- 
vention of laminitis ; the disease abandons the interior, and assails 
the extremities. The translation of disease in this way may some- 
times be considered salutary. Thus, if such change occur in the 
system of a horse not enfeebled by age or disease, strong hopes 
of recovery may be entertained; otherwise the subject is no better 
off; for it frequently leaves him in that deplorable and utterly 
ruined condition denominated founder. 

Causes of Laminitis. — We have already hinted at some of 
them, yet the reader must remember that the same agency may 
at one time only create a predisposition, and at another directly 
excite the disease. Predisposing causes are those which produce 
in the system certain changes which prepare it for the develop- 
ment of disease ; they are slow and gradual in their operation, 
not cognizable at all times. This is the incubative stage of dis- 
ease. Exciting causes are those from which diseases seem to 
have a direct origin, as in metastasis, for example ; still it is very 
difficult, therefore, to decide where the first ends, and the latter 
commences. The opinion of scientific men must, however, be our 
guide. Mr. John Field gives the following account of the causee 
and symptoms of laminitis : — 

" This disease may be occasioned either by severe work on dry, 
hard roads, or by inflammation of the lungs, &c, whereby, in the 
former instance, it arises from excessive friction between the 
sensible and horny laminae, while in the latter, from the animal 
constantly standing, an undue and continued stress is laid upon 
thai part. The symptoms are, a hard, strong, and frequent pulse ; 
the animal expresses great pain, and blood sometimes oozes from 
the coronet, attended with a sinking of the coronary ligament. 
If the fore feet arc affected, he extends them forward, and brings 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 353 

nis hind legs under his body, to support the weight. If the disease 
is in the hind legs, he stands on his toes, bringing his fore legs to the 
centre of gravity. This complaint is accompanied with great hea\ 
round the feet, accelerated respiration, and sometimes sweating. 

" Should the symptoms continue, there is an effusion of coagu- 
lated lymph or blood between the sensible and the horny lamina? 
in consequence of which the coffin bone descends upon the sensi- 
ble and horny sole, the sole becomes convex, and the front of the 
hoof is depressed in the centre, or rendered more oblique." 

Next to over-exertion and concussion on hard pavements, the 
drinking of cold water when the animal is heated is the next 
cause assigned. It is well known to horsemen, that founder often 
sets in from the latter cause, and also after a hard drive followed 
by a full meal ; and what is founder but an aggravated case of 
laminitis ? 

Treatment of Laminitis. — We have tried various kinds of 
remedies for this affection, but never found any thing equal to 
packing, after the fashion of hydropathy. The feet are to be en- 
closed in bandages saturated with a weak mixture of arnica — 
eight ounces of tincture of arnica to one gallon of water; the 
bandages are to be about five yards in length and four inches 
broad. Before applying the bandage, have the shoes carefully 
removed, cleanse the feet with soft soap and water, and adapt to 
each a piece of flat sponge just the size of the sole. This answers 
the purpose of a soft cushion for the horse to stand on, and at the 
same time keeps the sole moist. Having now applied the bandage, 
and secured it with tape, nothing further is needed but to keep 
the parts moist for several days, readjusting the bandage, how- 
ever, if it should become loose. The constitutional treatment 
depends upon circumstances : it may be proper in all cases to 
keep the patient on thin gruel, scalded mashes, and boiled roots, 
and to give an occasional dose of sulphur and cream of tartar, 
Should the patient evince signs of much agony, give a few 
drenches of infusion of hops or poppy heads. High inflammatory 
symptoms are to met with arnica ; dose, twenty drops of the tinc- 
ture every six hours, to be given in clear water ; this the animal 
will generally drink. Should thirst prevail, the drink must be 
Acidulated with cream of tartar, or a few drops of acetic acid 
30* 



354 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

CONTRACTION OF THE HOOF. — {Hoof Banna.) 

Some of the causes of contraction ha^ 3 already been alluded to, 
(See Quarter Orach) The prevalent custom of cutting away the. 
bars — which ordinarily support the heels, and prevent their ap« 
proxirnation — may be considered, among others, as directly op- 
erative in prolucing this deformity, which, in some cases, may be 
considered in the ligbt of local atrophy — diminished nutrition, 
Diminished nutrition generally results from disorder in the diges- 
tive organs, so that contraction of the hoof and indigestion may 
coexist ; although many physicians deny the coexistence of dis- 
ease. Contraction of this kind is not apt to occasion lameness, 
because there is a very low grade of vital action in the parts. 
But contraction is now and then the result of deep-seated disease 
within the hoof — navicularthritis and laminitis, for example; 
fhe animal is then dead lame while the inflammatory diathesis 
>asts. 

Treatment. — Contraction associated with inflammatory action 
9f the tissues or cartilages of the foot must be treated in the same 
manner as recommended for laminitis: in all cases we must 
endeavor to give the frog a bearing on the ground ; and in order 
to do this the shoe ought to be removed. A dry, brittle, and con- 
tracted hoof may be improved by repeated poulticing with soft 
soap and rye meal, applied cold. So soon as the hoof softens, let 
it be dressed, night and morning, with turpentine, linseed oil, and 
powdered charcoal, equal parts. Yet, aftar all, a run at grass in 
a soft pasture, the animal having nothing more than tips on his 
feet, is the best treatment. A very popular notion exists, that 
cow manure has a wonderful effect on a contracted hoof ; but it is 
the candid opinion of the author, and no doubt the reader will 
coincide, that filth and dirt of every kind are unfavorable to 
healthy action. Such remedy, aside from its objection on ihe 
6core of decency, savors too much of by-gone days, when live eels 
were S3nt on an errand down horse's throats to unravel their 
intestines. If any benefit belongs to such an objectionable appli- 
cation, it is due to the property it possesses cf retail. ing moisture; 
therefore cold poultices and water are far superior. Clay and 
inoist earth, placed in the stall for the horse to iitand o", are fa* 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 355 

inferior to a stuffing of wet oakum, which can be removed at 
pleasure. In order to keep it in contact with the sole, we have 
only to insinuate two strips of wood between the sole and shoe ; 
one running lengthwise and the other crosswise of the foot. It 
affords considerable pressure to the foot, is cooling and cleanly, 
and is far superior to the above articles. 

CANKER OF THE FOOT. 

This is one of the most intractable diseases with which the 
veterinary surgeon has to contend. It is a disease somewhat 
analogous to cancer in the human subject. A true cancer, how- 
ever, is supposed to have its origin in remote parts ; hence the 
great difficulty in curing it. Dr. Carpenter teaches that " can- 
cerous growths possess a remarkable analogy with the parasitic 
fungi, which develop themselves in the interior of vegetable and 
even animal structures ; and the supposition long ago entertained, 
that cancer might be regarded as an independent growth of cor- 
responding nature, does not now appear so extravagant as it was 
at one time considered. There can be little doubt that a can- 
cerous tumor of any size may be developed from a single cell ; 
and it is probable that the origin of such growths in parts distant 
from their primary centre is to be traced to the conveyance of 
cancer cells, or of their germs by the circulating current ; so that 
it seems very difficult to draw a line which shall separate such in- 
dependent growths on the one hand from the ordinary tissues of 
the body, and on the other from structures really parasitic. It is 
interesting to remark, that blood vessels cannot be traced in these 
productions at an early period of their formation, but that they 
make their appearance, as in the normal development of the tis« 
sues, at a later date." We consider canker in the horse to be an 
abnormal development of the ordinary tissues of the foot ; for were 
it otherwise, we should never be able to cure it. If, however, it 
appear in other parts of the body, which is a rare occurrence, 
and assume a malignant aspect, it may be defined as true cancer. 
A common antecedent of canker is thrush ; its seat is the hind 
feet, occurring in horses of coarse breed, with ill-shaped hoofs, 
and diseased frogs, that always emit a fetid odor. In such animals 



856 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

there seems to exist a peculiar diathesis favorable to the produc- 
tion of canker, which, on the occurrence of a simple injury to the 
foot by the accidental introduction of a nail, or from any other 
exciting cause, is immediately followed by an extraordinary mor- 
bid growth. 

Treatment* — Our first business is to remove the shoe, and 
cleanse the foot with a weak solution of chloride of soda ; the 
principal part of the morbid growth is then to be dissected off; 
if any hemorrhage follows, it can be arrested with pledgets of lint 
saturated with tincture of muriate of iron, or any other styptic ; 
we next sprinkle the whole surface with powdered bloodroot, — 
sanguinaria canadensis, — then apply a dressing of strong pyro- 
ligneous acid, and by means of pledgets and bandages, keep a con- 
tinued pressure on the parts. The foot must be dressed in this 
manner for several days, occasionally washing it with a solution 
of alum, sulphate of zinc, or some vegetable astringent — infusion 
of oak or bayberry bark. Should these remedies fail, we recom- 
mend the following : Take a saturated solution of common 
potass, into which stir a sufficient quantity of finely-pulverized 
oatmeal, to form a stiff paste ; apply this to any fungous growth, 
and it will disappear in a very short time. This dressing should 
be followed by one composed of linseed oil and lime water, equal 
parts 

* M. Fischer recommends unslaked lime in preference to slaked ; his reasons 
are, " The latter becomes with water more unctuous, it adheres better, and 
causes thicker crusts or sloughs, which more readily become detached. I pro- 
cure lime as pure as I can, and make it into a paste with water, immediately 
before application, in order that it may, in that form, reach the simises of the 
foot, after having sprinkled over the cankerous surfaces pure chloride of lime, 
or else that mixed with pulverized tan, according to circumstances. In case* 
where the calcined calcareous stone refuses readily to absorb the water, or doet 
not slake, I obviate, in some measure this inconvenience by making use of 
boiling water. 

" First of all, I confine the paste upon the foot with a piece of linen, before 
I enclose the foot in a boot ; otherwise the latter would speedily become de- 
stroyed by the caustic. At every fresh dressing, i. e. daily, the linen is cal- 
cined, as it were, by the lime, so that at each dressing fiesh linen is called 
lor."-- Translations from the French, by Percivall. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 357 



CUTTING. — {Interfering.) 

Horses are said to cut, or interfere, when they strike the inn el 
aide of the fetlock joint with the hoof or shoe of the opposite 
foot. It generally arises either from an unnatural curvature in- 
wards of the limbs, twisting in of the toe, from shelving of the 
boof, and from errors in shoeing. It may also arise in conse- 
quence of weakness and fatigue, during a long journey over 
heavy and uneven roads ; the subject is apt, also, at such times, — 
especially when the toe has a faulty position inwards, — to strike 
on the inside of the knee, and produce an inflammatory swelling, 
termed speedy cut, which sometimes takes a long time to reduce. 
It is evident, therefore, that, in order to remedy the evil, we 
must ascertain its causes ; yet, in the majority of cases, we have 
to depend on the blacksmith and a careful driver for a cure ; 
the physician has nothing to offer but advice and palliatives. 



GENERALITIES. 

CRIBBING. — {Crib Biting.)* 

The act of cribbing consists in grasping the crib, oi a given 
point, with one or both jaws, at the same time uttering a laryn- 
geal sound, resembling a grunt. A cribbing horse has generally 

* " Although the abnormal action with horses known under the appellation 
of crib biting is so frequently observed, it is still one far from being siifficiently 
understood. Many of our best veterinary authors have furnished dissertations 
on the subject ; but these present great variety of opinion touching the causes, 
•eat, nature, and consequences of crib biting. Whilst one contends that, in 
the act, the horse swallows atmospheric air, another contends that the animal 
ejects air which act is accompanied with a particular noise, created by gas 
generated in the stomach. Some say that the habit is injurious to the horses 
that practise it, and that it frequently renders them valueless ; while others 
maintain that it nowise materially hurts them. The Court (of Appeal) has 
pronounced in favor of its innocuousness. 

" By this we are led to distinguish crib biting into that which is acquired bj 
Kabit, habitual, and that which is properly so called, and which is spontaneous. 

" Th«» opinion which regards crib biting as discharging air from the stomach. 



858 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

beei considered unsound, but we know not on what grounds; for 
we look upon a horse as sound so long as he can perform the 
duties of an ordinary horse without inconvenience or lameness: 
he may have defects, both as regards form and action ; but such 
are not to be construed into unsoundness. It is a remarkable 
fact that verj few cribbers fail to perform the duties required of 
them. They may, once in a while, have an attack of colic ; bic 

■imjlar to belching in ourselves, is evidently an erroneous one, since it implies 
that the act is one of absolute necessity. Now, it is well known that by va- 
rious means we have it in our power to prevent crib biting in some horses for a 
iocger or shorter time ; but in doing this we never hear of any evil conse- 
quences arising from its suppression. Indeed, if such were true, horses ought 
to blow themselves out with the gas, which, instead of eructating, they are 
now compelled to retain. And, moreover, did crib biting consist in eructation, 
gas might make its escape through the nose, and then the animal would have 
no occasion for that violent movement which characterizes crib biting. 

" To those who pretend that crib biting consists in swallowing atmospheric 
air, in order to aid the digestion of horses addicted to the vice, I reply, without 
entering into any physiological considerations, that if, by any means, the crib 
biting be put a stop to for several months together, the horse digests quite as 
well without as with the vice : of this I have often had occasion to convince 
myself. 

" The explication given by Professor Gurlt, of crib biting with eructation,* 
supplies the reason of the difference of opinion we have adverted to, and 
is quite conformable to what one daily observes. M. Gurlt asserts that the 
crib biter swallows air, which he the same instant rejects ; but that, neverthe- 
less, in particular cases, a portion of the air, having descended into the oesopha- 
gus, does not reascend into the pharynx, but penetrates into the stomach, into 
which it is forced by the contraction of the wall of the oesophagus. M. Strant, 
who has written an admirable memoir f on crib biting in horses, admits of the 
view of the matter taken by Gurlt, which he explain? in this way : ' The ani- 
mal, when he incurvates his head upon his breast, does so to gain a poitti 
(Tavpiri, in order to force a certain quantity of atmospheric air into the phar- 
ynx, and thus overcome, in this act, the natural impediment offered by th* 
iclum palati and fauces ; the larynx is elevated, while coincident muscular con- 
traction draws up the fauces to receive the swallowed air. At this moment 
the horse relaxes in his effort, (crib biters in the air effect the movement in 
Biight elevation cf the head,) and then the air swallowed flows back, xr.d escapes 
frith the characteristic sound. With old crib biters we may convince ourselves, 
by auscultation, that the sound attendant on the act is in truth produced at 
the mc.nent of the evacuation of the air ; and with horses in which the a'l 
reaches the stomach, a second faint, supplementary sound may be heard alojg 

• Nachtrize zur PathologischeD Anatomie, von Gurlt, p. 69. 

f Eepertur id des Thierheilkunde, herausgegeben vun Hiring 1850, p. 190. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 35S 

that is not due to cribbing, but to indigestion : still the popular 
belief is, that cribbing is either the result or cause of colic. 
The author's opinion is, that cribbing is a habit either ac« 
quired or hereditary ; that the sound or grunt originates in the 
vocal organs, from air admitted within them and expelled with- 
out entering the trachea, and in consequence of air supplied fcu 
tV.m from the lungs during expiration. The grunt is evidently 

the oesophagus, coming from the air entering the stomachic cavity. This lait 
found has some analogy to the borborygrni (rumblings) of the bowels. 

" In this manner we may explain very readily how it happens that some crib 
biters blow their bellies out very much in the act, while in others nothing of 
the kind happens ; so that in some horses the vice really proves prejudicial, 
while others seem hardly at all decreased in real worth by it. 

" Hurtzel d'Arboval, and numerous veterinary authors with him, have sought 
the cause of crib biting in the digestive organs ; but, in perusing this author's 
article on the subject, it is easy to perceive that he has collected exceptions to 
establish a general rule, and has mistaken the effect for the eause. Indeed, 
the medical opinions of this writer savor too much of the gastro-intestinal 
organs being the seat of diseases obscure in their nature. 

" I know many crib biting horses, but I am not acquainted with one instanco 
in which the vice has proved decidedly (sensiblement) prejudicial, providing, as 
is done in my part of the country, measures be taken to hinder horses having 
it biting the crib any great deal. Many farmers, indeed, possessing ouch 
horses, regard them, though perhaps through prejudice, as their most hardy 
workers. I often find a single crib biter in a farmer's stable, where, perhaps, 
he has been for many years among the other horses, where he has acquired this 
evil habit, without the farmer's being at all able to divine the cause. And I 
have possessed a harness colt, which no sooner was separated from his dam to 
be tied up in a stall, than he commenced crib biting, without ever before having 
shown the slightest tendency that way. He is at present six or seven years 
of age, and still bites the crib. If crib biting, as some pretend, consists in 
swallowing air to serve the purposes of digestion, certainly this colt ought to 
have ill digested his food during the time he was kept from practising it; and 
if there results from the act the generating of gas in the stomach, the animal 
ft cm .this cause would have found himself disordered during his abstinence 
from crib biting. 

" In general, crib biting ought rather to be regarded as a vicious habit than aa 
a disease : as the latter I have never been able to regard it. Horses that axe 
old crib biters present the inconvenience of being slow feeders ; they require a 
good deal to satisfy them ; and those which generate air in their stomachs are 
very subject to attacks of meteorization. To obviate such inconveniences, thl 
fallowing means have been recommended : either the ordinary crib-biting strap 
or an iron T, whose branches so embrace the throttle as to prevent the horse' 
arching his neck after the peculiar manier in which he prepares for the aa 
tad accomplishes it" 



560 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

an expiratory murmur, and the air necessary for producing .such 
is derived from one of these sources. Some contend that the 
animal swallows wind, and thus creates flatulency, colic, &c. ; but 
the idea is perfectly ridiculous. It is our firm belief, based 
upon a knowledge of the structure of the parts involved in the 
mechanism of respiration, that neither man nor horse, by volun- 
tary act, ever has power to swallow atmospheric air. The 
organs of respiration and deglutition differ so materially in their 
anatomical and physiological relations — have each special funr 
tious to perform — that it is impossible for one to perform trie 
function of the- other, which would be the case if a horse actually 
swallowed wind, — atmospheric air, — and then, as some others 
contend, regurgitated it.* On these grounds, we question, there- 
fore, the correctness of either theory. If horses possessed the 
power of eructating wind or gas from the stomach, we might 
expect, in violent cases of flatulency, to notice its escape in this 
way, which the author has never yet been able to do. Crib 
biting, therefore, being nothing but a habit or vice, can only be 
corrected by means and appliances which prevent the subject 
from indulging in it. In this view, all sorts of contrivances have 
been resorted to, and among them was one which was invented 
by Sir Peter Laurie. The space between the bottom of the 
hay rack and the outer edge of the manger is boarded over, 
forming a steep inclined plane, leaving, in this way, no edge or 
point on which the horse can fix his jaw. Attached is a flap or 
slide, opened only at meal time. The author uses common bar 
soap as a preventive, which is to be rubbed on the edge and 
outside of the crib, and renewed as often as necessary. 

• The saliva has the property of enclosing within its globules, during the 
process of mastication, a small quantity of atmospheric air ; but we never knew 
iii' its doing any harm : it may, possibly, answer some useful purpose ir diges- 
tion, and we strongly suspect that in that wonderful laboratory, the stomach, 
t it docomxwsed. 



TH£ MODERN HORSE DOCTOR, 861 

POLL EVIL. 

" Poll evil results either from neglect or abme.** 

Poll evil generally makes its appearance about the nape of the 
oock, in the form of an inflammatory swelling, which, if not ar- 
rested, ends in abscess and fistula. It generally proceeds from 
blows or bruises. Horses that are located in low-roofed stables 
*re apt to strike the poll against the beams or ceiling; and a 
frequent repetition of the act always ends in induration or poll 
evil. Some horses are very restless in the stall, and are con- 
stantly jerking their heads upward, especially if tethered too 
short ; in consequence, the parts which come in contact with the 
upper part of the head-stall are bruised ; the injury is not often 
perceived until considerable tumefaction and unhealthy suppura- 
tion have set in ; the case then becomes exceedingly difficult to 
cure, and may wear out the patience of all concerned. Exces- 
sive friction on the nape of the neck, from bridle or halter, or 
the pressure of either on the parts, from their being fastened on 
the head too tightly, are most fertile in producing this malady. 
Other causes are operative in producing poll evil that we shall 
just barely allude to, (merely in view of prevention.) It is well 
known that the poll is a part which very seldom makes the ac- 
quaintance of either brush or currycomb ; yet it is the recep 
tacle for considerable dust and filth : owing to the accumulation 
of either, a cutaneous eruption arises, the itching sensation of 
which causes the horse to rub whenever he can get a chance ; 
the evil goes on, until what was at first superficial now be- 
comes deep-seated, by mere contiguity of tissue. The bungling 
and oftentimes cruel manner of forcing a small collar on a large 
horse — pulling first this way and then that, now a tug, then a 
jerk, and perhaps a blow with the whip stick — is not inoper- 
ative, to say the least, in producing this malady. Some men are 
in the constant habit of bracing the horse's head downward with 
the martingale, so as to bring the mouth and chest in close prox- 
imity ; and they seldom consider that the strain comes on the 
horse's poll the piessure of the bridle from without, and the 
unyielding hatui e of tL e bon ;s of the neck, bruise the interme- 
31 



362 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

iiate soft tissues, and poll evil is the result. Notwithstanding all 
this, poll evil is of rather rare occurrence. 

Poll evil is first noticed in the form of an oval tumor, hot and 
tender, situated directly in the region of the nape, mostly inclin- 
ing to one side ; in the suppurative stage, and when the matter u 
deep-seated, scarcely any fluctuation can be felt ; when, however, 
the matter lies directly beneath the skin, or in the cellular ti»» 
6ues, the reverse is the case. The suppurative finally runs into 
the ulcerative stage ; we then observe chasms and sinuses, simi- 
lar to those observed in fistula of the withers, and finally the 
bones become involved in the disease. 

Treatment. — In the early stage, a sort of antiphlogistic treat- 
ment is the best. The patient should be kept on a light diet, 
have a dose of cooling medicine, and the parts should be kept 
constantly wet by means of cold water bandages ; for an indo 
lent sort of tumor we substitute a solution of vinegar and salt. 
Continue this treatment for a few days. Should the tumor 
increase in size, and have a soft, fluctuating feel, apply a poultice 
of linseed. We must not wait for the tumor to break of itself; 
but as soon as matter can be distinctly felt, let it be opened at 
the lower margin, instead of its summit ; by this means the 
matter can pass off" as fast as it forms. It will be prudent to 
make a pretty large opening, so that no obstruction shall exist to 
the free and full discharge of matter, which must be pressed out. 
It is customary in such cases to apply poultices in view of pro- 
moting the discharge ; instead of poultice, the author uses a 
paste composed of sugar, soap, and powdered bloodroot, equal 
parts ; these are to be rubbed together in a mortar, and spread 
on cotton cloth, about the thickness of a dollar, and thus applied 
to the tumor, to be secured by bandage. In the majority of 
cases, however, the author endeavors, after having opened the 
abscess, to put a stop to the suppurative process in the following 
manner : Having punctured the tumor, and pressed out as much 
as possible of morbid accumulation, take a six or eight ounce 
syringe, and inject the cavity several times with tincture of 
iodine; after doing so, cram into the chasm a portion of sal* 
and bloodroot, equal parts ; put a cold water pad on the eminence, 
and encircle it with a roller, passed around the head and neck in 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 362 

the isual manner, as tight as circumstances permit. On the 
following day the bandage is to be removed, the part washed 
and dressed, and a small quantity of tincture of iodine injected, 
and bandaged as before. This treatment must be followed up 
for several days, at the end of which, should the discharge havt 
decreased, and other symptoms appear favorable, the chances are 
in favor of a cure. Our object in this treatment is to excite ad- 
hesive inflammation, by means of which, accompanied by pres- 
sure, the surfaces of the interior are glued together. 

Cases, however, occur which set at defiance all our skill. In 
such the ligamentary, tendinous, fleshy, and bony structures are 
involved, perhaps accompanied with fistulas, running in various 
directions, like so many pipes or drains ; and the difficulty of 
closing the latter is, that they acquire a mucous lining ; and all 
mucous canals are very difficult to unite. The only remedy in 
such cases is the knife : the part must be laid open and all fistu 
lous pipes dissected out. Should a portion of bone be diseased, 
that must also be removed. The chasm is then to be cleansed 
with a solution of chloride of lime, or pyroligneous acid ; its 
edges brought together by suture, leaving an orifice at the lower 
part for the discharge of matter. Our object must still be to 
heal by adhesion, as already described. Should we fail in this, 
and the part assume a morbid type, inject and dress it with 

Spirits of turpentine, ^ 

Pyroligneous acid, £ . . . equal parts. 

Linseed oil, ) 

Fir balsam has also a very good effect on indolent and morSid 
parts. So soon, however, as the parts show a disposition to heal, 
dress with tincture of aloes and myrrh. 

Our treatment must not be altogether of a local character ; we 
must attend to the general health, and keep the bowels soluble 
Sulphur, sassafras, and cream of tartar are the best remedies. 



FISTULA OF THE WITHERS. 

This disease does not differ from the preceding one, except in 
location : fistula of the withers, however, is more common than 
poll evil ; and this arises in consequence of Ihe withers being 



864 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

more exposed to injury tban the poll. Of the two diseases, fis- 
tula is the more formidable ; for the sinuses often burrow deep 
between the shoulder blade and spinous processes, in various 
directions, so that it becomes both difficult and dangerous to 
search for them. For the treatment of fistula the reader is re- 
ferred to Poll Evil. 

DOCKING. 

Fashion and convenience seem to require that horses muni 
submit to have their caudal appendages shortened. Yet that 
fashion which condemns a poor uncomplaining brute to torture 
merely for the caprice of his owner is to be deplored, especially 
when performed after the horrid fashion of some who seem to 
pay no regard to the feelings of the subject, while mangling and 
searing sensitive tissues that are as susceptible to pain as those 
in our race. It is useless, however, for the author to offer any 
arguments against a practice so long established ; he, therefore, 
proposes to point out the best means of docking. 

The animal should be cast, and brought under the influence of 
chloroform ; an assistant then depresses the tail into its natural 
position ; the point of amputation having been selected, the oper- 
ator feels for a joint or articulation, just posterior to which he 
commences a circular incision, carrying the knife right round the 
tail to the point of commencement, cutting down to the fascia. 
The integuments are then to be forcibly drawn upwards, while 
the operator disarticulates the joint by making an incision right 
through it. The coccygeal arteries are to be drawn out with a 
pair of forceps, and secured by ligature. The integuments, in- 
stead of being retracted above the lower end of the bone, are now 
below it, and thus can be made to protect it from injuries. Two 
or three stitches are now needed to approximate the edges of the 
wound, and the operation is finished, without much loss of blood, 
and with little if any pain to our subject. Here the red-hot iron 
and guillotine, — a docking machine always puts us in mind of 
one, — are dispensed with, to the honor of our calling and benefit 
of our noble patient. The after treatment is very simple; cold 
water, or some tincture of aloes, will complete the cure. If they 
should not, owing to profuse suppuration, use pyroligneous acid, 
and give a dose of medicine. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCIDR. 863 

The sommon methods of performing this operation is by meana 
of a docking machine, or other sharp instrument, which takes off 
the tail at one stroke ; but the operator, unless he understands 
his business, often finds he has severed one of the bones of the 
tail and left behind some projecting spiculse, which afterwards 
have to be removed. To stanch hemorrhage a red-hot iron ia 
applied to the stump ; and this is the most barbarous proceeding 
of the whole, for it is only necessary to seal the arteries with a 
pointed budding-iron, brought to a white heat, and merely touch 
them with the same. For if the iron be not sufficiently hot, 01 
should it be kept in contact with the part too long, it will bring 
away an eschar, and thus the process has to be repeated. The 
common iron, with a hole in the centre, used for closing the arte- 
ries, is objectionable, because it is calculated to come in contact 
with the muscles of the tail, and must necessarily contract them, 
and leave the bone more exposed. But there is, actually, no 
necessity for cauterization, for the artery can be secured by lig- 
ature in less time than it requires to sear it. 

WOUNDS. 

The treatment of wounds depends altogether upon their nature 
and cause. It is very difficult in the horse — although not so in 
man — to heal a wound by what is called "Jirst intention" 
which means union by medium of coagulable lymph without 
suppuration. The definition of wound, technically, is, a solution 
of continuity in the soft parts, produced by some mechanical 
agent. "Wounds are divided into incised, contused, lacerated, 
punctured, and penetrating. 

Incised Wounds. 

Incised wounds are those inflicted by sharp instruments. On 
the human body they often heal without any subsequent inflam- 
mation beyond what nature sets up in the restorative process ; 
but the difficulty in the horse is, that we cannot always keep the 
parts in contact, and therefore it is not so easy to unite them. 
In many cases, after having been at the trouble to adjust by 
31* 



S66 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOK. 

Rutures the edges of divided parts, and when all seems going 01 
favorably, the animal gets his head round, and tears the wound 
open afresh, so that our labor is all in vain. This puts a damper on 
healing by first intention. There are several other difficulties in 
the way of healing by this method, well known to anatomists. 
We shall just merely refer to the principal 01 e, because it may 
satisfy the reader that some wounds had better not be sutjred, 
for they put the subject to a great deal of pain for no pur- 
pose. Horses, as well as some other animals, have, in lieu of 
hands, a peculiar muscular arrangement under the skin, by 
means of which they can shake off flies and other foreign bodies ; 
and it is owing to the facility with which they can jerk or move 
the skin that we often fail in uniting flesh wounds. Other ob- 
stacles are to be met with, both in relation to the size of the 
wound and as regards its anatomical direction. If the wound is 
seen immediately after infliction, and there seems to be the least 
probability of healing by first intention, we place a twitch on the 
horse's nose, and examine the part. If there be found neither 
dirt nor foreign body of any kind, the blood had better not be 
washed off; for this is the best healing material in the world. 
The edges are then to be brought together by interrupted sutures, 
taking care not to include the hair between the edges of the 
wound, for that would effectually prevent union. Nothing more 
is needed but to secure the animal so that he cannot get at it. If 
he is to be kept in the stable, without exercise, for any length of 
time, he had better be put on half diet. Pure air will not 
hurt him ! 

Contused Wounds. 

These are generally occasioned by hooks, or some blunt body 
connected with the harness or vehicle. They generally leave a 
gaping wound with bruised edges. We have only to remember 
that nature possesses the power of repairing injuries of this 
kind — of filling up the parts and covering them with new skin , 
itli we have to do is, to attend to the general health of the animal, 
or d keep the wound in a healthy condition. Our usual apptica 
non is the compound tincture of myrrh. If the part assume as 
unhealthy aspect, a charcoal poultice will rectify that. If succ 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 367 

cannot be applied, owing to the situation of the wo*jnd, dress it 
with pyroligneous acid. 

Lacerated Wounds. 

Lacerated wounds are generally in the form of a rent rather 
than cut, inflicted (as we have seen cases) by the calking of a 
ghoe tearing off the integuments and-subcellular tissue, leaving a 
sort of triangular flap. In these cures we generally employ 
sutures and treat them the same as incised wounds. 

Punctured Wounds. 

Punctured wounds are those inflicted by a pointed body, as a 
nail in the foot, point of a fork, or splinter of wood. These are 
the most dangerous kinds of wounds, for they are frequently the 
cause of fistula and looked-jaw. 

We make it an invariable rule, in the treatment of punctured 
wounds, to first examine by probe or otherwise, and remove any 
foreign body that may be present, and then poultice with flaxseed, 
into which we stir a small quantity of fir balsam. In puncture 
of the foot by nail, instead of plastering it with tar, and forcing 
a tent into the orifice, and then covering the sole with leather, as 
most blacksmiths are wont to do, we have the shoe taken off, the 
foot washed clean, and a moderately warm poultice applied, and 
renewed daily, until the suppurative stage commences. That 
once established, we consider our patient safe ; for many men, as 
well as animals, have lost their lives from the absorption of pus 
formed in the wound after the external breach had healed 
When a bone is injured by the point of a nail, or fork, the curs 
is rather tedious ; the primary means, however, are the same. 
The poultices may be followed by astringent injections, as aluiL 
water ; &c. In case of injury to the bone, we use pyroligneous 
acid ; to be thrown into the wound by means of a small syringe. 
If extensive disease of the bone sets in, the services of a veter- 
inary surgeon will be required. A very profuse or unhealthy 
discharge from a punctured wound must be met by constitutional 
remedies. Sulphur and sassafras, to the amount of haJf an 



368 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

ounce each, every other day, to the amount of three or foul 
doses, will arrest the morbid phenomenon. The local remedy in 
all cases of this kind is diluted acetic or pyroligneous acid. For 
the treatment of a fistulous opening, see Fistula. For puncture 
of joints, see Open Joint. 

Penetrating Wounds 

Are inflicted by the horns of cattle, stakes, shafts, &c, and 
have to be treated according to the nature of the case. A pene- 
trating wound of the walls of the abdomen is generally followed 
by protrusion of the intestine ; this has to be returned ; the 
wound is then closed by strong sutures, and the belly must be 
encircled with a long bandage. In such cases we generally keep 
the bowels soluble with scalded shorts, well seasoned with salt, 
and empty the rectum occasionally by enema. 

Penetrating Wound of Intestine. 

To illustrate the mode of procedure when the intestine is 
wounded, the following case is introduced: We were called to 
see a three-year-old colt that had been gored by a cow. The 
animal had a wound on the off side, about four inches in length, 
in the iliac region, through which a portion of the small intes- 
tine protruded. On exploring the breach, it was found to run in 
a slanting direction, and as it approached the peritoneum, was 
found quite small, scarcely admitting the little finger ; here the 
bowel was both strangulated and lacerated, the intestinal open- 
ing being external to the stricture. Before proceeding to cast the 
horse, a twitch was placed on the nose, and the edges of the 
wounded intestine were neatly sewed together with a very fine 
suture needle. Our reason for doing this before casting woe, 
lest in the animal's struggles the bowel might r 3cede, and give us 
*ome trouble in getting hold of it again. There was not much 
langer of it, however; still we wanted to be on the safe side. 
The intestinal wound was not produced by the cow's horn, but 
lock place some three hours afterwards, and two before we saw 
the case, in the following manner : the protruded bowel had 



THE MODERN HORSE TOCTOR. 369 

become disten Jed with gas, and according to the owner's account^ 
was about the size of his two fists. The animal, probably being 
in pain, got down and rolled on the injured side, and thus burst 
the gut. After sewing t p the wounded intestine, it was cleansed 
with warm water, and attempts were made to return it within the 
abdomen, but to no purpose. We then cast the patient, and, by 
means of a bundle of straw on each side, propped him on his 
back ; the bowel did not return so easily as we had expected, fo? 
it was found necessary to dilate the stricture by means of a but- 
ton-pointed bistoury. The several layers of abdominal muscles 
were then sutured with as much nicety as the nature of the 
wound admitted ; and lastly the integuments were brought to- 
gether by interrupted suture. This case terminated unfavor- 
ably, for the animal died on the sixth day from peritonitis. It 
may be well to observe that the accident happened on a very 
cold day, in the depth of winter ; and the bowel being so long 
exposed to the depressing influence of cold, probably led to the 
fatal result ; for it is well known that operations of this kind often 
prove successful. It may be interesting to the reader to know 
that wounds of the intestines heal as readily as those of other 
parts, as the following cases will show : — 

** An incision one inch and a half in length was made in the 
bowels of a dog ; the wound of the integuments was closed by 
suture ; the animal was scarcely affected by the operation, took 
food as usual, and had natural evacuations. At the end of a 
fortnight, when perfectly recovered, he was killed for the purpose 
of examining the bowel, when the wound appeared to be com- 
pletely healed. 

u In the eighteenth volume of the Philosophical Transactions 
a similar experiment is related by Mr. W. Cooper : ' An opening 
was made in the abdomen of a dog ; a large wound was made in 
the intestines, and the wound in the abdomen was stitched ap, 
Sec. ', the dog recovered without any bad symptoms, and became 
perfectly well in a few days after.' It should be observed that 
the bowel does not appear to have been stitched up when re- 
turned into the belly. The following experiment by Mr. Travers 
is still more remarkable : ' A ligature of thin packthread was 
firmly tied round the first intestine — duodenum — of a dog, so 



S7(. THE MODERN HORSE DOCTO.K. 

as completely tc obstruct it ; the ends of the strings were cut ofl£ 
and the parts returned ; the wound in the abdomen was closed, 
and the animal expressed no sign of suffering when the opera- 
tion was concluded. On the following day he was frequently 
sick, and vomited some milk that was given him; his respiration 
wits hurried. Third day his sickness continued, and he vomited 
some bilious fluid. Fifth day he passed a copious stool of the 
eame appearance as the fluid discharged by vomiting ; his sick- 
ness from this time ceased, and his breathing was natural ; he 
took v :read and milk, and drank abundantly of water. Seventh 
day he had three similar evacuations, and appeared well, eating 
animal food freely. On the fifteenth day, his cure being estab- 
lished, he was killed foi the purpose of examination. The liga- 
ture which was fastened around the intestine divided the interior 
coats of the gut, in this respect resembling the operation of 
a ligature upon an artery ; the peritoneal 01 outer coat alone 
maintained its integrity. The inflammation which the liga- 
ture induces on either side of it is terminated by the depo- 
sition of a coat of lymph, exterior to the ligature ; this quickly 
becomes organized ; and the ligature, thus enclosed, is liberated 
by the alcerative process, falls of necessity into the canal, and 
passes off by stool.' " — Travers on Injuries. 

Penetrating Wounds of the Chest. 

Wounds of this character are not fatal, provided the lungs or 
heart are not perforated. Ail that can be done is to suture the 
wound, pass several turns of a roller round the chest, and adopt 
auch constitutional means as the case seems to require. 

WORMS. 

Animal parasites are sometimes found in the intestinal canal 
of a horse in very large numbers ; they often exist without 
producing any perceptible disturbance in the economy ; yet in 
Borne cases they unquestionably produce irritation, suffering, and 
ill health. The usual disease with which worms are connected 
i*> indigestion, known by fetid breath, tucked up belly, staring 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 311 

eoat, loss of flesh, voracious appetite, and slimy stools. Worms 
— excepting bots — are supposed by some to be of spontaneous 
origin ; but our opinion is, that they are the result of a per- 
verted state of the parts in which they appear. The long, round 
worm is an inhabitant of the small intestines ; and the pin or 
thread worm is generally found in the large intestines and lec- 
tum. 

Treatment. — Various are the remedies used for the expulsion 
cf worms : the chief are, wood ashes, poplar bark, sulphur, salt, 
castor oil, turpentine, calomel, tartar emetic, and aloes ; either 
of which will sometimes bring away a quantity of worms. But 
the difficulty does not end here ; the worms will generate so long 
as that morbid habit which gives rise to them exists. Hence the 
course invariably pursued by the author is to change the morbid 
habit by alteratives and vermifuges * combined. The following 
is a good example of the same : — 

* " In this inquiry the principal experiments were performed by immersing 
the worms of dogs, cats, and other of the lower animals, in milk or fluid albu- 
men, at a temperature of about 77° Fahrenheit, and then adding the vermifuge 
of the fluid. Electricity was employed to test the actual death of the worm. 

" Tape Worms. — The decoction of kousso and milk proved fatal in half an 
hour ; turpentine and albumen from one hour to one hour and a quarter ; de- 
coction of pomegranate bark and milk or albumen, in from three hours to 
three hours and a half ; ethereal extract of male fern with albumen in from 
three hours and a half to four hours ; and castor oil with albumen in eight 
hours. Therefor* kousso appears to be by far the most potent of the vir- 
mifuges 

" Tape worms placed in a salad containing onions and garlic, and dressed 
with vinegar and oil, died in about eight hours. 

" Dolichos pruriens appeared to exert no poisonous influence, nor did brown 
jxide of copper ; though the latter excited violent mischief in the intestines 
of a cat, to which it was administered. 

" Round Worms. — Santonine dissolved in castor oil caused death in about 
ten minutes ; but santonine in milk or in albumen had no appreciable influ- 
ence ; creosote caused death within two hours ; common salt in from two to six 
hours ; and the roe of the herring, or flour of mustard, in four hours. Turpen- 
tine and albumen, or petroleum, or oil of cajeput and albumen, were upon a 
par with common salt. A salad containing garlic and onions caused death in 
from ten to fifteen hours ; garlic acid, pomegranate root, and vinegar operated 
fatally in about eleven hours ; but kousso and the other astringents required 
from twenty-four to thirty hours before they produced this result. Ordinary 
bitters acted very slowly and unsatisfactorily. 

" From these experiments Dr. K. recommends that, to '.he cure of round 



872 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



White mustard seed, (whole,) "* 

Powdered mandrake, 

Sulphur, > of each 2 ounace, 

Powdered wormseed, (chenopodium anthelmiijticum,) J 

Salt, ginger, and charcoal, J 

Poplar bark, 1 pound. 



Mix. Dose, one ounce, night and morning, in the food. Undei 
the exhibition of this medicine, aided by proper dietary regula* 
ticn3, the animal will gradually improve in condition, and in the 
course of a short time the worms will disappear. Should 
the rectum abound in pin worms, an injection of salt will be 
indicated. 

The following vermifuge is occasionally prescribed by the 
author, and it has, in some cases, brought away large quantities 
of worms : — 

Castor oil, 12 ounces, 

Oil of wormseed, 1 ounce, 

Oil of tansy, 3 drachms. 

To be given on an empty stomach, followed by mashes of Jine 
feed or shorts, well seasoned with salt. To be repeated, if ne- 
cessary, until the bowels respond. 

NICKING. 

Nicking is another fashionable barbarism that very few horses 
escape. The world of horsemen have decided, no tail no 
horse ; and if an animal does not describe an angle of forty -five 
with his tail, he is said to carry none. In order, therefore, to find 
a ready purchaser, an owner is often compelled to have his horse 
nicked, in order to make him appear more graceful. The opera- 
tion, as performed in England, is thus described by Surgeon 
White: — 

" The operation consists in making three incisions in the under 
part of the tail, extending quite across, or as far as there is no 
hair produced. The first cut should be about two or three inches 

(forms, a mixture of santonine and castor oil should be made, in proportion o 
from two to five grains of the former to one ounce of the latter, and a toa- 
■poonful of this given until the desired effect is produced ; and a'ong with thil 
he recommends salt and mustard, with onions and garlic, to be added to tht 
diet of the patient." — Report on Practical Medicine, by Dr. Ktlchenmeister. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR 37b 

from the base of the tail, and a similar space should b > left be- 
tween the first and second, and second and third incisions. On 
making the second incision, if the first has been sufficiently deep, 
part of tbe muscle will protrude, which must be drawn out and 
cut off. The bleeding is to be stopped by pledgets of tow firmly 
bound on. The tail is now to be kept in an elevated position by 
means of a cord tied to the end of it, and passed over a pulley 
with a weight attached to the other end of the cord. It :s need 
less to give a particular description of this part of the process, 
as the apparatus may be seen in any horse dealer's stable, whera 
it is always kept ready. It will be necessary to keep the horse 
in the pulleys from three weeks to a month. The morning after 
the operation, the bandage must be loosened or cut through on 
the back part of the tail, or severe inflammation may be the con- 
sequence. The weight applied to raise the tail must at first be 
moderate, not exceeding two or three pounds ; but about the 
Bixth day it may be increased to four or five pounds. No kind 
of dressing is necessary during the process ; the loosened band- 
ages will fall off about the third or fourth day, and leave large 
gaping wounds, which will gradually fill up, and be completely 
healed in three weeks. When the horse has been in the pulleys 
about a week, he should be taken out for a short time, and led up 
and down, in order to see in what manner he carries his tail. If 
it is not sufficiently raised, it may be necessary to put the trans- 
verse line, upon which the double pulley runs, a little farther 
forward towards the head of the stall, that the tail may be 
brought more over the horse's back ; and should he carry it on 
one side, the pulley must be so confined as to keep it on the op- 
posite side for a sufficient time to make him carry it straight. A 
similar oxamination should be made daily, and he should have a 
little exercise." 

Tb.3 usual mode of operating in the United States, is to make 
a sub-cutaneous section of the muscles, known as depressorea 
coccygis, the use of which are to depress the tail. The knifij 
is introduced as near to the anus as possible on one side of the 
tail, between the bone and muscle ; then, with a sort of sawing 
moticn, — the back of the knife being towards the bones, — the 
muscle is divided, which may be known by the edge of the knife 
32 



374 the modern horse doctor. 

coming in contact with the integuments. This is repeated on fh* 
Dther side, and the operation is finished. The horse is generally 
fettered by a rope from the neck, soured to each hind leg ; he 
has also a twitch on the nose. This operation, when performed in 
a skilful manner, is, probably, superior to tbat recommended by 
White, which leaves a large cicatrix, very objectionable to Ameri- 
can horsemen. It not unfrequently happens that horses lose an 
enormous quantity of blood after the operation ; but that results 
from want of anatomical knowledge. The coccygeal arteries are 
severed, which the surgeon knows how to avoid. Amateur oper- 
ators often find that the subject of their experiment is seized with 
locked-jaw ; and in other cases the tail curves laterally towards 
the body. In the former, some unnecessary mangling has been 
performed, and in the latter case, one of the curvatores coccygii 
has been partly or wholly severed, which allows the associate 
muscle on the other side to draw the tail that way. Hence the 
necessity for skilful operators. 

METEOR1ZATION. — ( Tympanic Slate of the Abdomen.) 

Meteorization is a tympanitic state of the abdomen, that takes 
place in acute diseases suddenly and unexpectedly, as does the 
appearance of a meteor in the heavens. — Hooper. 

The following article is translated by Mr. Percivall from the 
Bee. de Med. Vet. 

Puncture of the Caecum. — ( Cure.) — A light harness geld- 
ing, seven years old, after having eaten a good allowance of oats 
and bran, was employed to draw a load of dung from Paris to 
Creteil. He had no sooner arrived when he was attacked with 
violent colics ; his belly became rapidly blown out, when, in 
consequence of suffocation being threatened, the carter imme- 
diately brought him to the veterinary school. 

On his arrival his respiration was highly accelerated ; nostrils 
dilated ; countenance anxious ; flank so blown out that the pro- 
cess of the ileum is almost effaced ; pulse very small, quick, and 
wiry, &c. Rectal exploration discovered that the large intes- 
tines contained but little solid matter, but were mostly distend- 
ed with gas. From time to time the animal made violenl 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 375 

expilsire efforts, and when left to himself he lies down and 
rolls, &c. 

Diagnostic. — Meteorization consecutive on indigestion. 

Prescription. — V. S. ; continual walking exercise ; simple 
clysters; drink of assafcetida 15 grammes, (about 9 iv.,) with a 
like quantity of camphor. No relief being afforded in an hour 
afterwards, a drink of aloetic oil, composed of a pint and a half 
of oil with 10 grammes (about 3 j) of Barbadoes aloes. 

Two hours after the administration of this drink, there had 
been no evacuation of either solid or gaseous matter from the 
anus. The pulse had become small and depressed ; the skin 
cold ; the respiration anxious, sighing, and short. Asphyxia 
threatening, the indication is, if we would prevent it, and so save 
the animal, we must do something instantly. Puncture of the 
caecum was determined on. 

The skin was penetrated with a sharp, straight bistoury at the 
most salient part in the flank, about the middle of an imaginary 
straight line extended horizontally from the angle of the ileum 
to the last rib, and, for want of a larger trocar, we made use of 
one of Guerin's, which is used for injections into the. joints. 
This instrument was plunged perpendicularly, with one thrust, 
through the muscular parietes of the abdomen, so as to penetrate 
the arch of the caecum, which it did with facility, the resistance 
of the skin having been previously surmounted by the incision 
made by the bistoury. The stillette was no sooner withdrawn 
from the wound than the gas made an impetuous eruption to es- 
cape, followed by frothy matters, and spreading around an em- 
pyreumatic vegetable odor. 

At length, this current was on a sudden interrupted, on account 
of the canula being so short that it slipped out of the gut as soon 
as the latter came to subside and retire from proximity with the 
parietes. This first result obtained by puncture proving insuffi- 
cient, we were compelled to renew the operation. A first incision 
was made through the skin in a part of the flank nearer to the 
lumbar vetebrae, and again the trocar was plunged through the 
abdominal muscles in a direction nearly parallel with the trans- 
Verse lumbar processes. In this way the instrument penetrated 
the most prominent part of the caecal arch, and at a point where 



376 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOK. 

the retraction of the gut was not to be feared so touch, tc 
alter the parallelism between the aperture through the gut and 
that through the skin. This gave issue to a prolonged flow 
of gaseous fluids having a repulsive odor ; and with the efflux 
the parietes gradually lost their distention, and the respiration 
became fuller and freer. The canula was retained in the 
aperture until the current of gas ceased, and then was with- 
drawn. The belly had now recovered its former dimensions 
and suppleness. 

The horse was relieved. His countenance had changed for 
the better ; but his pulse was depressed and his skin cold. In 
order to produce reaction, his body was ordered to be envel- 
oped in two cloths dipped in cold water, and over that to be 
placed six dry cloths, and he was to be left to himself in a stable 
made hot. In twenty minutes a very strong reaction had be- 
come established in the skin ; the hands introduced underneath 
the cloths experienced great heat ; the pulse had recovered its 
fulness, and with it the peristaltic action of the intestines had 
become restored ; for the animal now continually passed gas and 
excrementitious solid matters. From this moment all colicky 
symptoms disappeared. 

Now, however, that all apprehension from gaseous indiges- 
tion was over, there remained behind such as might arise as 
consequences of the operation, among which the chief was peri- 
tonitis. To meet this, bloodletting was practised, and a large 
sinapism put upon his belly. The next morning the horse ap- 
peared in full spirits, drawing his provender out of his rack ; 
and the quantity of accumulated faecal matters he had evacuated 
showed the canal to be perfectly free. On the eleventh dav 
after his admission, he returned to his master quite recovered. 

PROTRUSION OF THE PENIS. — (Paraphymosis.) 

Paraphymosis consists of a contraction of t lie prepuce around 
and posterior to, the glans penis. It is generally considered aa 
an inflammatory tumefaction of the glans, accompanied or not 
with cellular effusion. The remedies are, aperient medicine. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 377 

ccld water applications by means of suspensory bandages, and 
light diet. In cases that resist the ordinary remedies, the stric- 
ture must be divided. 

URETHRAL GLEET. — (Blenorrhagia.) 

Blenorrhagia is a simple augmented secretion of mucous matter 
from the urethra, not communicable by contact. It is supposed 
to be identical with nasal gleet. The worst case the author has 
ever seen occurred in a stallion which had covered one hundred 
and twenty mares during a single season. He had a copious dis- 
charge of white mucus from the urethra, unattended by symp- 
toms of pain in voiding urine. This is the diagnostic symptom ; 
for if there be any symptoms of pain or inflammatory action, at- 
tended with tumefaction of the glans penis, and variations in the 
color and consistence of the discharge, the case is then one of 
gonorrhoea, capable of being communicated by contact. Such a 
disease has never yet come under the author's observation. Still, 
if gonorrhoea owes its origin to inflammation, — as some contend, 
— we cannot see how horses can enjoy immunity from it ; there- 
fore veterinarians must be prepared to treat it. In the case 
just alluded to, blenorrhagia arose from excessive action of the 
generative organs. For this complaint the animal was drenched 
daily with a portion of the following mixture : — 

Balsam copaiba, 2 ounces, 

Sweet spirits of nitre, 1 ounce, 

Sirup of garlic, 4 ounces, 

Mucilage of gum Arabic, .... 1 pint. 

Dose, half a gill. 

The penis and sheath were sponged three times a day with 
rMd water, and the patient was kept from mares. Under the 
treatment he recovered. The same remedies are efficient for 
the treatment of leucorrhcea, occurring in mares, in which cool 
ing applications cr astringents are applied to the vagina. 
32* 



878 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

GLANDERS AND FARCY. 
Glanders. 

It is a notorious fact, that many valuable horses, in this cour> 
try, are yearly sacrificed at the shrine of ignorance; having 
been pronounced by their owners as glandered, simply because 
they have a discharge from the nostrils, accompanied by enlarged 
maxillary glands.* And we do not hesitate to say that many 
such horses might, by proper medical treatment, be restored to 
health. 

Mr. R. Vines, V. S., says, "All the symptoms of disease 
which constitute glanders and farcy invariably depend on the 
unhealthy state of the system into which it is reduced or brought, 
and not, as is supposed, from a specific poison contained in the 
blood ; and these symptoms of disease are found to depend on, 
and arise from, a variety of causes ; whether they occur at the 
latter states or stages of common inflammatory diseases, such as 
strangles, common cold, distemper, disease of the lungs, dropsy, 
&c, or whether they arise independently of such causes ; for 
when the system is brought into an unhealthy state, and is more 
or less debilitated from neglect, or by the improper treatment 
of any of these diseases, farcy or glanders is the result. The 
diseases of every animal will, therefore, assume a character ac- 
cording to the state of the system." 

Mr. Percivall, V. S., says, " The state of the body, or consti- 
tution, will always have considerable influence on the character 
and tendency of disease. In horses whose bodies are and have 
long been in an unthriving and unhealthy condition, a common 
swollen leg will occasionally run into farcy, and a common cold 
or strangles, or an attack of influenza, be followed by glanders. 
£n other cases, such unfortunate sequels will supervene without 
any ostensible or discoverable cause." 

We have no doubt that a case of glanders may be induced 
under the following circumstances: Suppose we select a horse — 
Rnd many such may bo found in this city — whose general health 
ehall be impaired ; lot such animal be exposed to the mercilesi 

* In glaniers, it is the lymphatic, submaxillary glands that are affected 



THE MODERN HOR3E DOCTOR. 879 

storm for several hours, and he will take what is termed, in 
popular language, a " cold." Let him now be treated according 
to the principles of the " kill or cure system " — bleeding and 
purging. The secretions then become impaired ; loss of appetila 
sets in ; the " coat stares ; " there is a dull, sleepy appearance 
about the animal, and a discharge from the nostrils, at first thin 
and opaque, but which soon acquires a tenacious and acrimonious 
character ; it finally assumes a putrid type, and decomposes parts 
of the mucous surfaces ; ulcerations of the cartilage of the nose 
follow, and we have a pure case of glanders. Then, as another 
illustration, let us suppose that the function of the skin be im- 
paired, and the animal be confined in a hot and crowded stable. 
Under these circumstances, the lungs have an extra amount of 
labor to perform, and soon become incapacitated. We then 
have deposits of morbific matter on the mucous membrane, which 
corrode, accumulate, and finally result in tubercle of the lungs. 

When horses take cold, there is a loss of equilibrium between 
the internal and external relations. The reader must bear in 
mind that the mucous membrane, which lines the internal cavi- 
ties, is a duplicature of the external surface ; but not being ex- 
posed, like the skin, to the action of external agents, it is not so 
strong nor so dense as the latter ; yet it performs nearly the 
same office. If the action of one is suppressed, the other imme- 
diately commences to perform the extra work ; hence a common 
cold, which contracts the excrementitious vessels of the external 
surface, also checks insensible perspiration. Morbific materials 
now recede to the mucous membrane, producing a discharge 
either from the nose or eyes ; in some cases, however, pro- 
ducing diarrhcea. 

Whenever a horse has taken cold, the prudent owner will en 
deavor to force a crisis, that is, to relax the external surl'ace, — 
or, in other words, promote insensible perspiration, — which can 
easily be accomplished through the aid of warmth, moisture, and 
irritants externally, and by giving sudorific and antispasmodic 
medicines internally. The stricture, if we may so term it, of the 
surface, being thus relaxed, permits the egress of morbific mat- 
ter, which vould otherwise be thrown on the lungs or kidneys. 
If there is not sufficient power in the system to determine 



380 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

action to tlie surface, then diffusible stimulants may be r© 
eorted to. 

Improper stable management is a more frequent cause of 
catarrh, glanders, and farcy than any other. The air which is 
necessary for the purposes of respiration must be pure, or it will 
irritate the lining membrane of the bronchia and their ramifica- 
tions. Professor Coleman relates a case which proves to demon- 
stration the fatal agency of impure atmosphere in generating 
tbis class of diseases. " In the expedition to Quiberon, the horses 
had not been long on board the transports before it became neces- 
sary to shut down the hatchways ; the consequence of this was, 
that some of them were suffocated, and all the rest were disem- 
barked either glandered or farcied." 

In a close stable the air is not only vitiated by successive res- 
piration, but there are other and more powerful sources of mis- 
chief. We allude to the injurious gases emanating from the 
dung and urine. 

In this disease, as well as in every other, " while there is life 
there is hope." A horse should not be condemned until he has 
had the benefit of veterinary skill. We see no good reason why 
— provided the disease be of a tuberculous form — the animal 
may not be so far restored, if treated before the finger of death 
be placed on him, as to perform ordinary work. We know that 
in the human subject, sooner or later, softening of tubercle usually 
takes place, and the portions of tissue imbedded in the deposit 
are at the same time destroyed ; the mingled morbid materials 
are then thrown out of the body by expectoration, leaving behind 
a cavity, which Dame Nature, — a very good doctor, if permitted 
to have her own way — soon fills up with a semi-cartilaginoua 
body, leaving only a simple cicatrix behind. At times, however, 
the contents of the cavity are only in part evacuated, and the re- 
mains form a calcareous mass, which soon becomes enclosed in a 
sac, and is thus prevented from doing harm. Why, then, may 
not the same thing take place in the lungs of a tuberculous horse ? 
They are organized after the fashion of ours ; they introduce ox 
ygen into the system, and liberate carbonic acid, in the same 
manner and under the same circumstances as do the lungs of 
man. The difference in the treatment of each may solve the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR, 38i 

froblem. The human patient has the advantage of medical 
skill in the early stage of his malady, under the directions of hia 
own knowledge, the experience of kind friends, &c. ; and, by 
directions from the family physician, he so regulates his mode 
of life that he is placed in the most favorable circumstances for 
cooperating with nature and with the physiological laws of his 
being; and his disease, although of a tuberculous character, may 
be modified in the manner just referred to, so as not only to rendei 
him a useful member of society, but to lengthen his days. But 
how striking is the difference in regard to the poor horse ! He 
will work and toil to death without uttering a groan. He labora 
from day to day, while the disease, in an insidious form, is per- 
manently locating itself in the vital tissues. A slight cough, or 
other premonitory symptoms, may be present ; but generally they 
are not considered of any consequence. If the poor brute lags 
in his pace, the whip is brought into requisition to urge him on 
under his heavy load ; and after a day of toil he is often placed 
under circumstances very unfavorable for the healthy action of 
the vital forces. So soon as the disease has approached to that 
intensity as not to be mistaken, he then becomes an object of 
terror, neglect, and cruelty. Whereas, had the animal been 
attended to in the incipient stage, the disease might have termi- 
nated as favorably as it ofttimes does in the human subject. It ia 
a well-known fact — perhaps confined within the halo of the 
profession — that thousands of our most valuable horses annually 
perish in consequence of neglect and ignorance on the part of 
their owners. For wherever we find the conditions which the 
physiologist asserts to be most favorable to the preservation of 
health most completely fulfilled, there do we find glanders least 
orevail. A few facts will place this subject in a striking light: 
A great majority of the cases of glanders occur among horses 
used under railroad contractions, where the work is of the most 
laborious kind, and the owners are too poor to furnish their 
animals with good quarters and wholesome food. So directly, 
however, is the health of the horse promoted by comfortable 
quarters, good management, and nutritious diet, that our wealthy 
citizens seldom, if ever, have a glandered horse, considering, 
however, that the disease is of spontaneous origin. The mortality 



382 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

from glanders in that densely populated city, London, is not 
chargeable to any other cause than criminal neglect, indifference, 
and cruelty. 

We shall now introduce a case tending to support our propo- 
sition, namely, that glanders may be palliated in the same ratio 
with its sister disease in the human family — phthisis pulmonalis. 

The subject, a dark-bay gelding of the sanguine-bilious temper- 
ament, aged eight years, was placed under our care for treatment. 
The following symptoms were recorded : A discharge from the 
left nostril of a purulent grumous mucus, which adhered to the 
edges of the part, and formed crusts of a yellow-green color. 
The breath was extremely fetid; the nasal membranes were of a 
deep-blue and reddish color, and ulcerations were apparent on the 
nasal membranes ; the submaxillary lymphatic glands on tho 
left side slightly enlarged ; coat staring ; flanks tucked up, and 
appetite poor ; respiration gurgling. 

Treatment. — The nasal passages were daily injected with 
pyroligneous acid. The diet consisted of equal parts of wheaten 
flour and oatmeal ; the drink, Cochituate water, acidulated with 
elixir of vitriol, eighty drops to the bucket. The medicinal agents 
used were the same as recommended for farcy, (see Farcy ;) 
in addition to which, the patient was occasionally drenched with 
brandy and salt — three ounces of the former to one of the 
latter. 

The treatment occupied a period of about three weeks ; during 
which time the horse was kept in a yard having a shed wkaie. he 
could retire in stormy weather. The ulcerations of the nasal 
membranes disappeared ; he improved in condition, and had so 
far regained his former healthy appearance that he was sold foi 
one hundred and seventy-five dollars. A period of two yeara 
has now elapsed, and our former patient enjoys good health, 
with the exception, as the owner informs us, of an occasional 
cough. 

Regarding the causes of glanders, M. II Bouley considers, — 

u I. That glanders is a spontaneous disease only with the horse 
species, it being in other animals always the result of contagion 
that in the horse species it may be the result of contagion, bul 
generally it is a product of disordered or perverted nutritive 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 383 

action in the system, and, consequently, is in its origin peculia 
to the horse species. 

" II. That this exclusive generative faculty is coincident with 
the exclusive uses to which horses are put ; the horse being that 
vital machina which is employed for moving- great weights or 
overcoming great resistance. 

" III. Oxen, in some localities, are likewise so employed ; bul 
then they do their work always at a tardy pace, so slow, indeed, 
that it does not interfere with rumination ; while horses, on tha 
contrary, almost always work with more rapidity, and oftentimes 
are compelled to carry great weights at the same rapid pace. 
And, moreover the horse, nervous and excitable by nature, freely 
gives himself up to such rapid movements, expending thereby so 
much more strength in any given time than the bullock in his 
slow movement. 

" IV. Excess of such kind of labor appears to be one of the 
causes of the horse's deterioration and wearing out. And so 
glanders, viewed as the result of excessive action in the living 
organ, is nothing more, in a great number of cases, than the 
effect of exhaustion induced by labor to which the powers of the 
animal were inadequate. 

" V. But how does this excessive work produce exhaustion 
and premature wearing out of the machine ? Modern science 
furnishes us with an answer to this question of a more precise 
and satisfactory description than formerly could have been given. 

" VI. Animal life is sustained through veritable combustion. 
Pulmonary exhalation proves this. The air expired from the lungs 
contains the products of combustion — carbonic acid and water. 
The combustible matter entering into the constitution of the 
organism is therein incessantly separated and eliminated through 
the agency of the affinity of the oxygen absorbed upon the pul- 
monary surface. It is the same with the incombustible matter, 
azote ; that being separated from its various combinations when- 
ever the oxygen exerted its affinity, and becoming eliminated 
through the urinary passages. 

u The effect of the air, then, introduced into the system through 
the respiratory passages, is incessantly to destroy organic com- 
binations, and eliminate their products in a state of combustion. 



384 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

(carbonic acid and water,) through the lungs and skin. Those 
incombustible, azotic matters, separated from the blood in the 
form of urea, pass through the urinary channels. The oxygen 
of the air is continually producing combustion and decompo- 
sition of the living animal fibre. 

" VII. This action of combustion and decomposition is the 
more potent the more the acts of respiration and circulation are 
accelerated, and the contact of the air with the blood becomes, in 
consequence, the oftener repeated. 

" Work cannot be performed without the acts of respiration and 
the pulsations of the heart becoming more energetic, and pro- 
portionably so with the speed and intensity of the work ; the 
consequence of which is, to bring the organic fibre oftener into 
the presence of oxygen, and so to hasten combustion and 
decomposition. 

" Chemical analysis shows that the products of combustion, 
exhaled through the skin and lungs, after a rapid course are con- 
siderably augmented ; consequently, decomposition becomes aug- 
mented under such circumstances. I pass over, in this estimate 
of the causes of wear and tear in the animal machine, the nervoua 
exhaustion consequent on muscular contraction, because, although 
I attach great importance t^ them, in this discussion they are not 
necessary for my demonstration. 

" VIII. The orgasm is opposed to this oxidation, — 

-< 1 . By virtue of the innate force of cohesion existing between 
its component particles — a force which for a certain time is able 
to counteract the affinity resulting from the action of oxygen. 

" 2. And especially through the continually renewed influence 
of the aliments introduced in sufficient quantity into the digestive 
apparatus for furnishing the living tissue with the eleineus 
proper for its reparation, and the oxygen of the air with com- 
bustible matters fit for the development and completion of its 
affinities, and through combination with it, for the production of 
the required animal heat. 

" IX. But if, while we are exacting continually from the 
animal machine a large demand of strength, — which, as I said 
before, entails the introduction of a considerable quantity of at- 
mospheric air into the air passages, — we do not aftbrd a suf- 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 385 

ficient supply of alimentary substance, — that is to say, of azotic 
and combustible matters, — the oxygen may exert its affinities en 
the matter actually composing the organs themselves, determin- 
ing a rapid decomposition, and finally producing with the azotic 
matter a new principle, endowed with powerful novel affinities, 
expediting by its presence the decomposition of the orgasm, and 
discovering itself during life by that cohort of symptoms and 
derangements which characterize glanders. 

" This active principle, the result of the extreme oxidation of 
the system, analogous in its origin and progress to ferments, is 
glandered virus. I am, indeed, struck with the analogy existing 
between the mode of generation of glandered ferment in the 
living body, under the influence of the oxygen of the air, and 
ferments which are concocted without vitality through the affini- 
ties of the same gas. 

" * * * Now, may we not admit that, in the vital orgasm, 
azotic matter, continually coming into contact with the oxygen 
of the air, may become converted into a peculiar ferment, the 
same as we behold in the dead body, the organic substance turn- 
ing into putrid ferment through the combined action of air and 
water and moderate heat ? There is an approximation here 
which has something specious about it. 

" Once produced, in whatever way it may be generated, glan- 
iered ferment is certainly accompanied by ulterior phenomena 
in the system which bear the closest analogy to those of recog- 
nized fermentation. Placed in contact with matter capable of 
feeding it, the glandered principle assimilates it, and greatly 
hastens the organic decompositions. In fact, chemical analysis 
seems to demonstrate that the exhalation of carbonic acid is 
much more considerable in an animal under the influence of 
glandered fermentation, than, if I may be allowed the expression, 
in an animal in health. Such is the theory ; let us now consider 
the facts. 

" X. Experience has shown, and every day still shows, that 
incessant work, without rest, such as is exacted of horses in cer- 
tain undertakings, is one of the most frequent causes of glanders ; 
acute and chronic, but principally of acute. No discussion, I 
should imagine, will arise on this point, it being an acknowledged 
33 



386 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

tact set forth every year in .the comptes rendus of the AJfon 
School. 

" It is no less certain that, in the greatest number of cases, 
whenever a horse becomes glandered from over work, it falls 
greatly off in condition before the disease makes its appearance 
— a fact which accords with the great exhalation of carbonic 
acid and water, the fatal consequences of the activity cf the ra- 
apiratory and circulatory functions. 

" On the other hand, whenever glanders has declared itself, 
the horse rapidly falls off — he becomes a dog-horse — and this 
disappearance of his fat coincides with the augmented exhalation 
of carbonic acid, which becomes remarkable at the period of 
eruptive and acute glanders. 

" Another fact is, that the influence of excessive work may be 
counteracted, and even rendered harmless, by a large reparative 
alimentation. Demonstrative experience of this passed under 
our eyes, on a very extensive scale too, on the occasion of the 
construction of the fortifications of Paris. The horses worked 
hard in draught became glandered or not, according as they be- 
longed to masters who could afford to (and did) keep them well 
or not. Most of the glandered horses were the property of un- 
fortunate piece-workers, (tdcherons,) knowing little of the man- 
agement of horses, and too parsimonious of their feed ; while, 
on the other hand, the disease spared such as were well fed by 
wealthy contractors, undertaking the work on their own account. 

" XI. The laboring ox is not subject, on account of being 
worked up, to any disease having the least analogy with glanders. 
Not to notice his difference of organization, which is a principal 
consideration in this question, I contend that the difference of 
results from the same cause in the bullock and the horse is owing 
to the modes of using them, to the constant slowness of pace of 
the one, and the occasional and frequent rapidity of that of the 
other. This difference may cease to exist whenever the ox ia 
forced into quick work, and especially should he be fat at the 
time. In such condition, under the influence of hurried respira- 
tion, oxidation of the combustible elements takes place with so 
great rapidity that the exhalation of the carbonic acid product 
tannot get "cut with sufficient celerity, and the consequence is, 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 387 

the animal dies asphyxiated or charbonneux. In this case, a new 
principle, a ferment, becomes generated in the blood under the 
influence of extreme oxidation. 

" XIL I am not to be supposed to admit that in every case 
glanders is the result of extreme oxidation. I reserve this inter 
pretation for one cause alone of the disease, viz., over-work." — 
London Veterinarian. 

FARCY. 

Authorities define farcy to be a disease of the lymphatic ves- 
sels, making its appearance in the form of circular swellings, 
termed farcy buds, which terminate in a discharge and ulcer- 
ation. 

Symptoms. — The horse usually exhibits some symptoms of a 
deranged condition ; sometimes, however, scarcely noticeable, at 
others very apparent. The horse is not in his usual spirits, 
appears dull, and does not partake of food with his accustomed 
relish. Some horses will have febrile symptoms, pulse quicker 
than natural, mouth hot, urine high-colored, &c. ; others are 
suddenly attacked with a swollen leg. Horses often become sud- 
denly lame in one of the hind extremities. Mr. Percivall re- 
marks, " I have known horses so lame from farcy, before the 
disease had in any local or characteristic form declared itself, 
that shoes have been removed, and feet searched, &c, to discover 
the cause and seat of lameness, no suspicion having existed, at 
the time, that farcy was present in the animal's system. It may 
so happen, however, that none of these preliminary symptoms 
are observed or observable ; that, on the contrary, farcy at once 
develops in an attack on some locality — most probably one hind 
limb. Indeed, so sudden, sharp, and severe are attacks of farcy 
in some instances, that in the course of one night the horse's 
limb will be swollen to a frightful size, so as to incapacitate him 
almost from turning in his stall and walking out of the stable. 

" Ordinarily the development of farcy plainly accounts for the 
halting or lameness ; now and then, however, the lameness ap- 
pears without any ostensible cause. 

" Viewing the aTected limb from behind, we perceive a fulness 
ds the inside ot th? thigh, along the course of the femoral vein ; 



388 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

and the application of our finger to this will immediately detect 
a corded, nodous swelling, which has been happily enough, in the 
sensation it conveys to our feel, compared to a ' cord with so 
many knots tied in it.' This is at once declarative of disease in 
the lymphatic vessels — of the presence of farcy. 

" Tracing the cord upward from its place of origin, which com- 
monly is above the hock, the hand is carried into the groin, and 
there discovers a lobulated tumor, a swelling of the inguinal 
glands, which may, without impropriety, be called a bubo ; some- 
times, however, the bubo does not make its appearance until after 
the full development of the cord. 

" Farcy does not at all times commence its attack in this open 
and unambiguous form ; on occasions it presents itself in a shape 
so insidious, that at first we hardly suspect it to be farcy, unless 
there happen to be present circumstances to induce suspicions of 
its existence. Sometimes one of the limbs, most likely the hind, 
will swell below instead of above the hock, and the swelling will 
increase around the fetlock, and an abscess will form there. In 
other cases, blotches or isolated pustules will break out upon the 
limbs, more likely upon the inner than the outer sides of them, 
or upon the body, or upon the shoulders, neck, breast, or quarters ; 
and these will break and discharge among the hair, clothing those 
parts with an ichorous or dirty-looking thin puriform matter." 

These are the general symptoms of farcy : if any doubt, how- 
ever, exists as to the nature of the disease, it will in a few days, 
sometimes in a few hours, be dispelled by observing corded lym- 
phatics issuing from these patches, which soon become running sores. 

A case of farcy came under our observation a short time ago. 
The subject had for some time been suffering under constitutional 
derangement, gradually losing his appetite and flesh. An influ- 
enza was now prevailing in the stable, which attacked all the in- 
mates. The one alluded to had a fetid discharge from the nose, 
differing from that of the other horses; and soon farcy buds 
made their appearance, accompanied by swelling of the legs. 
The fetid breath, together with the constitutional symptoms, 
would seem to favor the hypothesis that the patient was a sub- 
ject of deep-seated farcy, and, probably, had been such for a 
Vength of time. It was thought advisable to destrov this animal 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 889 

The others all recovered ; four of the number, however, having 
swollen legs, were permitted to run a few days at grass before 
they could be put to work. Veterinary writers speak of several 
forms of farcy ; but tbese are only varieties of tbe same disease, 
differing only in their symptoms and duration, assuming a mild 
or malignant form, as the case may be, in exact ratio to the 
general health of the subject. 

The first stage of farcy is tumefaction of the lymphatics — 
" development of the farcy bud." 

The second stage is commonly a suppurative one, terminating 
in a farcy ulcer. After passing through these two stages, the 
disease may, and frequently does, terminate in glanders. Hence 
the prognosis of farcy, in most cases, is considered unfavorable ; 
yet, when it attacks horses in good condition, some hopes may be 
entertained of a cure. In the diagnosis of farcy we are not apt 
to be mistaken, provided we keep in mind the language of a dis- 
tinguished veterinary writer, who says, " Jso swelling of a hind 
limb (or any other part) constitutes a case of farcy apart from 
the unequivocal signs of lymphatic disease ; there must be pres- 
ent corded, nodulated swellings, — buds in some form or other, — 
together with actual or approaching tumefaction of the lymphatic 
glands, or the case is not farcy." 

"I cannot help thinking," says the same author, " from accounts 
I have perused in some veterinary works, that both glanders and 
farcy have been mistaken ; or, rather, that diseases of another 
kind have been mistaken for them, and for farcy oftener than for 
glanders. One disease in particular, and one that is by no means 
so very rare in its occurrence, I feel quite certain has been called 
by the name of farcy, and under this appellation appears to have 
been • cured,' and to have been recorded as such. The disease 
I allude to is that which is now known by the name of diffuse 
inflammation of the cellular membrane — a disease consisting in 
the generally sudden appearance of lumps or patches >f sub- 
cutaneous effusion of a solid and even firm description, attended 
by oedematous, swollen states of the limbs, belly, sheath, &c. ; 
and thus having, so far, the character of water farcy* But in 

* What was in former times known as water farcy '» ow understood aB suppt 
ficial dropsy — an effusion into the cellular tinsue. 

33* 



390 THE MODERN ITORSE DOCTOR. 

those cases, let it be well observed that there is n * lymphatic di» 
ease, nothing like farcy buds and cords ; in which circumstance 
it is (connected with the course and termination these respective 
diseases are seen to have) that we are to seek for a correct diag- 
nosis. But how are we to distinguish farcy buds from some 
cutaneous eruptions — from surfeits * — which appear so much 
like them ? There is but one species of farcy for which these 
eruptions can be mistaken ; and that is the diffuse or broadcast 
variety — the button farcy. Now, should the attack be farcy, 
the probability is, from its being a general one, that the animal 
will show signs of ill health at the time ; whereas a horse that 
has ' broken out in a surfeit all over his body,' is commonly in 
unusually good, what is termed fine condition. Then, again, 
surfeit lumps are often large and irregular in form, and frequently 
appear in patches ; whereas the buds of button farcy are small, 
and regularly spheroid in shape, and spread pretty uniformly 
over the body. Again, surfeit eruptions are often but of an hour 
or two continuance — rarely are they visible on the following 
day ; any doubt, therefore, that may impend over the case is not 
likely to be of lengthened duration." 

The causes of farcy exist in any thing that deranges the lym- 
phatic system ; and probably the same causes that operate, either 
by contagion or otherwise, to produce glanders, will produce 
farcy. " By inoculation, farcy has been produced by the matter 
of glanders, and glanders by the matter of farcy ; and, conse- 
quently, there is every reason to infer a similarity, or rather an 
identity, in the viruses of the two diseases ; and in further proof 
of this, as we said before, one disease, or form of disease, almost 
invariably terminates in the other prior to dissolution. There 
can be no question but that the same contaminated or miasmatic 
atmosphere of the stable or elsewhere, which produces glanders, 
may occasion farcy, and vice versa." 

Treatment of Farcy. — The patient should be placed in a 
well-ventilated stable; if, however, the season permits, a run at 
grass, in the daytime, will be preferable. Pure air and green 



* Surfeit. A disease of the skin, consisting in an eruption of small pustule* 
it appears to arise frou a diseased state of the stomach and bowels. — White 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTCR. 39l 

food combined, are almost certain to produce a favorable effect 
for pure air decarbonizes the blood, deprives it of those impuri- 
ties which abound in farcy subjects, and at the same time distends 
the lungs to their normal capacity ; by which means the blood is 
circulated with more force to the extreme vessels. The green 
food, while its action is alterative, provides for the laxity of the 
bowels, keeps them free and unobstructed, and entirely dispenses 
with cathartic medicine ; the latter being generally considered 
necessary to clear out the bowels ; but in our opinion, the " brisk 
dose of cathartic medicine," so highly extolled by some, is calcu- 
lated to produce unfavorable results, especially if the patient 
shall be in a state of debility. Any man who has ever been 
foolish enough to practise the common error of periodical dosing 
with salts and senna, castor oil, &c, can testify as to their pros- 
trating effects ; but this is only an item in the catalogue of evils ; 
great pain, griping, loss of appetite, subsequent constipation and 
dyspepsia, are the consequences of cathartics and purgation. 
Therefore, if the fecal accumulations can be got rid of under 
the exhibition of so safe and desirable an agent as grass, it is 
certainly to be preferred to the ^ripe-scouring compounds of 
the day. 

The grass may perhaps act as a cathartic, especially if the sub- 
ject has been accustomed to corn and oats : if this should be the 
case, a sufficient quantity of dry food should be allowed to supply 
the waste of the body and promote the living integrity; for with- 
out oil the light will go out, and food is to the system what oil is 
to the light ; therefore, in such case, a liberal allowance of nutri- 
tious food will be indicated. 

When green food cannot be obtained, a sort of substitute can 
be compounded, consisting of boiled carrots, beets, and turnips, 
thickened with shorts or fine feed, and the whole pounded up to- 
gether, to which a tablespoonful of salt may be added. 

As regards the drink, we need only observe that pure water 
in small quantities, is perhaps the best ; yet if the patient be in 
exceedingly poor condition, he may then be allowed two quarts 
of hay tea and a pint of fresh cow's milk twice a day. 

Auima's suffering from either glanders or farcy should have 



B92 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR 

a liberal supply of common salt.* A quantity should be placed 
in a situation were the animal can help himself; in addition to 
which the food should be salted. 

Medicines. — These must possess the following properties : — ■ 

1. Antiseptic. — To preserve the system from putrescence. 
The principal one is pyroligneous acid ; dose, one ounce, twice a 
lay, in a pint of sage tea. 

2. Alterative. — To change morbid action, the following is an 

example : — 

Phosphate of lime, 1 ounce, 

Powdered sarsaparilla, ) . „„ . s „„„„„„ 

" sassafras, \ of each ■ ■ 5 ounces ' 

" assafoetida, 1 ounce. 

* Saline matters are essential constituents of the blood, of the organized 
tissues, and of the secretions. They are, therefore, necessary components of 
our food ; for without them health and vitality cannot be maintained. 

The alimentary salts, which, on account of their occurring more frequently and 
largely in the system, may be regarded as of the most importance in a dietctical 
point of view, are common salt aud the earthy phosphates. Ferruginous 
compounds (salts ?) and probably salts of potash, are also indispensable ingre- 
dients of our food. 

1. Common Salt, (Chloride of Sodium. J — Though salt is a constituent of 
most of our foods and drinks, we do not, in this way, obtain a sufficient supply 
■>f it to satisfy the wants of the system ; and nature has accordingly furnished 
us with an appetite for it. The salt, therefore, which we consume at our table 
as a condiment, in reality serves other and far more important purposes in the 
animal economy than that of merely gratifying the palate. It is a necessary 
article of food, being essential for the preservation of health and the mainte- 
nance of life. 

It forms an essential constituent of blood, which fluid doubtless owes many 
of its important qualities to it. Thus it probably contributes to keep the blood 
corpuscles unchanged ; for when these are put into water, a powerful and rapid 
endosmose takes place, in consequence of which they swell up and assume a 
globular form ; whereas in a weak solution of salt they remain unchanged. It 
malignant cholera, and some other diseases in which there is a deficiency of 
the saline ingredients of the blood, this fluid has a very dark, or even black 
appearance; whence it has been assumed by some writers that the red color of 
the blood is dependent on the presence of its saline ingredients. From the salt 
of the blood, aided by water, the gastric juice derives its hydrochloric acid, and 
the blood and the bile their soda. The soda which exists in the blood, in com 
bination with albumen, passes out of the system in union with organic matter, 
(Q7u jj66 j^2 o M ) represented by choleic acid : in other words, bile contains the 
elements of choleate of soda, though not necessarily arranged as such. Last- 
ly, " the soda, which has been used in the vital processes, and any excess of 
*oda, must be expelled in the form of salt, after being separated from the blood 
by the kidney." — Liebiy. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 393 

Mix ; and divide into twenty-four powders ; one to be giver^ 

night and morning, in thin gruei. 

3. Stimulant. — To arouse vital action, the chief are capsicum 

and ginger. The author has used the following preparation with 

considerable success : — 

Iodine, (reduced to powder,) .... 4 scruples, 

Proof spirit, 4 ounces, 

Tincture of caps sum or ginger, ... 6 ounces. 

Dose, one ounce, twice a day, in thin gruel. 
Another. 

Hydriodate of potassium, . . . 20 grains. 

Dissolve in a pint of water ; then add one ounce of tincture of 
ginger. To be repeated daily. 

Such are the remedies on which our hopes of cure are to be 
founded ; they are not to be given conjointly, but separately, as 
the various stages of the disease indicate. 

Should the horse's hind linibs be enormously swollen, so that 

he cannot move about without inconvenience and pain, then the 

following drench must be administered : — 

Powdered Socotrine aloes, 4 drachms, 

Tincture of gentian, 4 drachms, 

Sweet spirits of nitre, .... . . 3 drachms, 

Sirup of garlic, 1 ounce, 

Flour gruel, 1 pint. 

Mix. 

It will probably not be necessary to repeat this dose ; in fact, 
we should not recommend the aloes, were it not that the horse is 
now unable to seek an equivalent in the pasture, and the grave 
nature of the case calls for some agent caDable of producing a 
change in the system diverting the fluid (which is now accumu- 
lating in the cellular tissues of the limbs) from the parts to (he 
central membranes. Lest we may not be understood by tba 
reader, (non-professional,) we remark, that aloes act as a me- 
chanical irritant on the alimentary surfaces, and a copious secre- 
tion of fluid from those surfaces always follows the exhibition of 
drastic medicine. 

The swollen, hot, and tense state of the limb calls for some 
local application. We therefore first wash the parts with a 
weak ley of saleratus, and afterwards apply astringents, com« 
posed of a strong infusion of one o' the following articles* bay 



31)4 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

berry, white oak, nutgalls, gum catechu. Bandages moistened 
with equal parts of vinegar and water form a good evaporating, 
cooling lotion, when pain and inflammation are evident ; yet, 
after all, voluntary exercise, such as the animal will take while 
procuring food in the pasture, will generally have a better elfcct 
on a tumefied limb than all the local applications we can make. 

The local treatment of farcy buds is a matter of importance ; 
for the discharge from them is sometimes so corrosive, irri- 
tating, that it destroys the surrounding skin and subcellular 
parts. White and some other writers recommend the most de- 
structive poisons as topical applications, such as corrosive sub- 
limate, muriatic acid, lunar caustic, red precipitate — in effect, 
no doubt, setting up a worse disease than the one already 
present. In such articles we have no faith : on the contrary, 
we consider them first-rate poisons, capable of altering, and in a 
great majority of cases destroying, one or more of the functions 
necessary to the support of life. The following will form the 
best local application we know of : — 

Pyroligneous acid, 1 pint, 

Tincture of bloodroot, 1 gill, 

Linseed oil, k gill. 

Mix, and wet the farcy buds with it morning and evening. 



WET PACKING. 

The method of local treatment, after the fashion of hydropa- 
thy, is thus described by Surgeon Haycock : — 

" In the first place, procure the following articles, of the best 
quality of their kind ; namely, two pieces of strong, coarse linen, 
or harding wrappers, one piece of which must be seven yards in 
length, the other three yards in length, and both of them four 
feet in width; also, four linen bandages of the usual width, and 
each of them six yards in length; or, what would be better, 
eight linen bandages, each bandage three yards in length ; also, 
two pieces of coarse woollen cloth, very firm, but soft and per- 
fectly pliable in its nature, of the same length and width as the 
two pieces of harding wrapper ; also, eight woolen bandages, of 
the same length as the linen ones ; also, three o? four large wool 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 395 

len rugs, such as horses are usually clothed with in cold weather 
also, a number of strong iron skewers, a strong packing needle 
and several yards of thick string. Having procured the above 
articles, (for recollect it is worse than useless not to have theru 
of a sufficient number, size, width, and length,) the second step 
is to use them properly ; and upon this depends entirely the suc- 
cess of the operation. Take the linen sheets and the linen band- 
ages, and immerse them in a large quantity of clean cold water, (the 
colder the water the better,) and stir them about in the watei 
so that the whole may become thoroughly saturated. Thirdly 
take the large sheet out of the water, roll it up the short way, 
and give it a turn or two for the purpose of forcing out the 
loose water which it may contain, and giving this into the hand? 
of an assistant, (of which the operation will require two or three,) 
he must then strip the patient of all clothing, and freely sponge 
its body with cold water from the chine to the loins, embracing 
the sides, and under the abdomen ; then take the wet sheet, — 
rolled as it is, — lay it upon the patient's back parallel to the 
spine, and, holding firm the loose end, let an assistant roll it 
firmly round and round the body as tight as possible ; then take 
the longer of the woollen wrappers, (not the woollen horse rugs,) 
and roll it also firmly round the body, and upon the top of the 
wet sheet, and secure its loose end with two or three of the iron 
skewers ; and upon the top of this again fold a large woollen 
rug, which make secure where the ends meet with the needle 
and thick string. In precisely the same manner apply the 
smaller of the wet sheets to the neck, (but here a little difficulty 
may arise, which will require careful attention — the necks of 
well-bred horses are frequently very thin and spare, and they re- 
quire in this process to be packed : the best packing is made with 
A roll of wool, one roll of which is fixed on each side of the nock 
in the hollow, running parallel with the windpipe,) which fold 
iritl. the lesser woollen sheet, and above it again with a woollen 
rug, made secure as above described. Then repeat the process 
upon every one of the limbs, and fold above the wet bandages 
the dry woollen ones. To complete the operation, all that is 
now required is to spread over the patient the di y woollen rugs 
the one placed over the body make secure with a broad surcingle. 



396 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

while the one upon the neck may hang loose, after which, close 
the box, and leave the animal alone for three or four hours, 
or even more : it may always be known, however when tho 
cloths have been on long enough, by simply passing the hand 
under them and feeling the state of the skin ; and if the skin be 
wet and hot, do not disturb them ; but if the skin be dry, or nearly 
so, and the linen cloths are also dry, or in a dryish state, remove 
the whole at once, and put upon the patient fresh, dry, comfort'- 
abla clothing; the quantity of such clothing necessary will, of 
course, depend upon the season of the year, and the temperature 
of the weather. After the cloths are removed, I sometimes have 
the skin rapidly and lightly sponged over with cold water, and 
then three or four men are set vigorously to work with their 
bare hands to rub it perfectly dry ere I apply the clean clothing. 
It is seldom that I find it necessary to apply the wet sheets 
above once or twice before an improvement becomes rapidly 
visible ; and when once such improvement has set in, then assist 
it with such remedies as may answer best to the phenomena, for 
it must be borne in mind that the wet sheet is a very weaken- 
ing agent if applied too frequently." 

DISINFECTION OF STABLES. 

The cheapest and perhaps the best stable disinfectants ar 
quicklime, chloride of lime and of soda, and pulverized charcoal 
Many of our horsemen have yet to learn that the health of theii 
horses depends, in a great measure, on a proper supply of pure, 
uncontaminated atmospheric air: when they are convinced of this 
fact, we may expect a reform. It is a universal custom, in this 
city, to collect all stable sweepings denominated manure, and to 
deposit them in a reservoir beneath the stable floor this is 
carted off from the city about once a week. In the summer 
months, the stench arising from this semi-putrid mass is almost 
intolerable. It is not, however, in all cases a matter of choice, 
but one of necessity ; for in a crowded city, like Boston, the evil 
is not easy to remedy. Yet something can be done to conduct 
the impure emanations from the stable into the surrounding at- 
mosphere, wlure it would be comparatively harmk-ss. In tlu« 



THE MODEBN HORSE DOCTOR. 397 

new we recommend each stable-keeper to have a ventilator eon« 
etructed ; and it may be got up on a cheap scale from pin6 
boards, which should be dovetailed together. Its form will be a 
matter of choice ; the circular will be most preferable ; yet, 
where economy is the order of the day, a hollow, square spout 
will answer. The lower end of this ventilator must be inserted 
into the stable floor, and only inserted, for if it be suffered to 
rsaeh a few inches below the under surface of the floor, it will 
be but an imperfect ventilator. Its length will correspond tc 
the height of the stable, always allowing a few additional feet, 
to rise above the roof. It may be protected from rain by a tri- 
angular cap. 

We cannot close this subject without making what we conceive 
to be a valuable suggestion, which, if fully carried out, will be 
for the mutual advantage of stablemen and farmers. Our plan 
is, that each stable-keeper shall supply himself with a quantity 
of powdered charcoal, a limited portion of which is to be 
sprinkled every morning over the dung heap. For a stable av- 
eraging twenty horses, half a barrel of charcoal daily would net 
be too much ; the more there is of it the better for the farmer, 
and, indeed, for the whole human race. For then many of the 
diseases which have of late attacked our fruits and vegetables 
might be arrested, and, perhaps, wholly prevented. Much of 
the fruit now brought to market is a direct cause of diarrhcea 
and dysentery. 

By this arrangement the farmer will be the one most benefited, 
and we venture to say that any sensible man would be willing 
to furnish the requisite quantity of charcoal, provided he has 
the privilege of purchasing the manure. He certainly would 
not object, when purchasing manure, to pay the additional cost 
of the charcoal, for it surpasses all other substances in the 
power which it possesses of absorbing ammonia, and the value 
of manure is increased in proportion to the amount of ammo 
uiacal salts which it contains. 
34 



898 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

ON THE USE OF THE CAUTERY.* 

" The usa of the cautery, to the credit of our art be it said, is on 
the decline. The farriers of former days had ever in their haods 
their cautery or firing irons ; with them they opened abscesses 
and penetx*ated tumors, introduced setons, stanched hemorrhage, 
cleansod sores, and scored the skin over enlargements and lame- 
nesses of almost all descriptions ; indeed, even nowadays, we 
occasionally meet with some luckless wight of a horse that has 
gone through this ordeal, bearing marks of having been scored 
over almost every joint in his body. This barbarous and un- 
necessary practice is, however, much diminished ; the improve- 
ments of modern times have shown us that we can, in very many 
of these cases, afford the same relief in a much simpler and more 
humane manner. Not that I am one of those squeamish or 
chicken-hearted mortals, who would hesitate, as its medical at- 
tendant, to put an animal to any pain, short of actual torture, 
which I was thoroughly convinced was necessary for its cure or 
relief; at the same time, if I thought I could effect by mild 
means that for which were commonly employed harsh and pain- 
ful measures, I should feel it my duty to adopt the former in 
preference to the latter, even though the process required a 
somewhat longer interval of time. In fact, I hold it up as one 
of the proudest boasts of modern veterinary surgery, that red- 
hot iron — that terrific though potent remedy — is in many cases 
superseded by comparatively painless but equally efficacious 
measures ; and let us hope the day is not far distant when we 
shall require its aid even less than we do at present." — Per- 
rival' on the disorders and lamenesses of hoises. 

• Cautery is if two kinds, actual and potential. By the first is meant tb« 
red hot iron ; by the second, any caustic application 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 398 

OPERATION OF LITHOTOMY, (FOR STOJSE,) IN THE 
BLADDER OF A HORSE. 

The following case occurred in the practice of a veterinary 
surgeon in England, and may serve to illustrate the manner of 
procedure : — 

" Having drawn out the penis from the sheath or prepuce, the 
operator passed a rod of whalebone up the urethra, until the 
end of it could be felt in the perineum. He then cut down upon 
the end of the rod, and through the opening thus made in the 
urethra he introduced a director, and with a probe-pointed bis- 
toury continued the opening as far as the left side of the anus. 
He then introduced his right hand into the rectum, and the two 
fore fingers of his left hand into the bladder, and, without any 
difficulty, pushed the stone against the middle fingei, by which 
he guided it to the neck of the bladder, and then easily forced it. 
out through the opening in the urethra. The stone weighed 
rather more than four and a half ounces. Some parts of the 
stone appeared to have been broken off, and left in the bladder ; 
these were easily removed by means of a bit of soft sponge tied 
to a whalebone probe, and some warm water. The wound 
quickly healed, except a small orifice, through which a part of 
the urine still passes ; but the horse has worked hard since, and 
suffered no inconvenience from it. Mr. M. has no doubt that 
a stone of seven or eight ounces might be thus extracted." — 
Med. and Phys. Journal. 

SCALDED SHORTS. 

Shorts, as they are familiarly termed, when scalded, make an 
excellent diet for sick animals. The usual method of prepara- 
lion is, to turn two or three quarts of shorts into a bucket, to 
which add boiling water, so that the mixture, when stirred, shaU 
be about the consistence of a soft poultice : it is then to be cov- 
ered with a cloth, and not given to the horse until sufficiently 
cool. When a horse has taken cold, and labors under a discharge 
from the nostrils, the mash may be put into the manger while 
hot. with a view of steaming the nasal passages, *nd favoring 



400 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

the discbarge of morbid accumulations. It is our general pra& 
tice, when treating borses for acute diseases, to prescribe an oc- 
casional mess of tbe above ; and we invariably observe some 
benefit derived. In acute diseases of the alimentary canal, — in- 
flammation of the bowels for example, — the practice is open to 
6ome objection, on account of the irritation which the article 
might produce on the mucous surfaces. During the active stage 
of such disease, food of this description is inadmissible, and such 
articles as are mu:ilaginous, lubricating, are indicated. The best 
we know of are flaxseed, marshmallows, and slippery elm. It is 
customary in England, in large stables, to set a boiler in which 
hot water is continually kept for the purposes of the stable, and 
more particularly for making bran mashes, and at night, if any 
of the horses look dumpish, (fatigued,) a bran mash and a good 
warm bed of straw generally restore them. Let a man, who has 
performed a hard day's work, arriving at home late at night, — 
his clothes drenched with rain, his feet icy cold, and his frame 
shaking like an aspen leaf, — now partake of a bowl of warm 
gruel, and tumble into a good feather bed, he can afterwards un- 
derstand how a poor horse, under similar circumstances, might 
be benefited. White recommends bran mashes " in fever and all 
inflammatory complaints ; they are useful, also, as a preparative 
to physic, serving to remove any indurated foeces there may be in 
the bowels, whereby the operation of the medicine is rendered 
more safe and effectual. When a horse has been fed high for 
6ome time, a change to a diet of mashes for two or three days 
will often do a great deal of good." 

METHOD OF ADMINISTERING MEDICINES TO HORSES. 

The author almost invariably administers medicine in the form 
of drench, using a common champagne bottle. Some persons, 
however, assert that " there is great danger in drenching horses 
from a bottle ; also, that it is very difficult to make them swallow 
fluid." We never knew of any accident following the use of the 
nottle, where ordinary caution was observed. There is a space 
between the canine teeth and grinders where the bottle can be 
introduced, and if kept in that position while " drenching the 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 40i 

horse," it cannot do any harm. Our usual plan is, to s tand on 
the right side of the horse, our back turned towards his body ; we 
then take a firm hold of the lower jaw with the left hand, at the 
same time moderately elevating the head, (not too high,) while 
with the right we gradually pour down the contents of the bottle. 
Time should be taken in the process, and if it is poured down in 
small quantities at a time, so much the better ; the horse will be 
more likely to swallow it, especially if it shall be made palatable 
by the addition of a few caraway seeds or a little honey. Horses, 
like children, must be handled in the most gentle manner. They 
will generally refuse to drink even a little gruel, when any un- 
necessary severity is resorted to in its administration. They may 
be coaxed, but not forced. 

In answer to the second objection, we observe, that there is no 
more difficulty (not half so much) in administering a drench to a 
horse, under ordinary circumstances, than there is in giving a 
ball. To the latter we have great objections. First, in reference 
to its bulk ; secondly, the length of time it takes for the gas- 
tric fluids to dissolve it ; and lastly, its action is uncertain. 
Whereas medicine given in the fluid form is readily taken up by 
the lacteals, and operates, for good or evil, in much less time. It 
has also been urged that, when a horse is suffering from disease 
of the respiratory organs, the additional excitement following the 
act of drenching is unfavorable to the cure. Unfortunately, we 
are in a worse predicament when a ball is given, for then the 
tongue is forcibly drawn out of the mouth, while the hand is 
passed up to its root, where the ball is deposited. Our own ex- 
perience in the matter leads us to decide in favor of the bottle. 
If any further proofs of its utility are wanting, we may mention 
the fact that one half of our city horsemen are in the habit of 
administering drink from the bottle without accident 

SOUNDNESS, AS OPPOSED TO LAMENESS. 

" Reluctantly as we enter on this difficult and much-debated 

question, we feel it our duty, in a work on lameness, to make 

some observations on the subject, though these observations will 

be rather of a general than of a particulai nature, and have 

34* 



402 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

especial reference to soundness regarded as the converse of 01 
opposite state k» lameness. No person buys or sells a horse with- 
out feeling some concern as to the soundness of the animal : the 
purchaser is apprehensive lest his new horse should from any 
cause turn out unserviceable or unequal to that for the perform- 
ance of which he has bought him ; the vender is apprehensive, 
either lest the animal, in other hands, should not prove that sound 
and effective servant he conceived or represented him to be, or 
lest some unrepresented or concealed fault or defect he is aware 
the animal possesses may now, in his new master's hands, be 
brought to light. Soundness, as opposed to actual or decided 
lameness, (or as synonymous with good health,) is a state too well 
understood to need any definition or description : when we come, 
however, to draw a line between soundness and lameness in their 
less distinguishable forms, — to mark the point at which one ends 
and the other begins, -*~ we meet a difficulty ; and this difficulty 
increases when we find ourselves called on to include under our 
denomination of unsoundness that which is likely or has a tendency 
to bring forth lameness. 

" The number of ' horse cases,' as they are commonly called, 
that have engaged the attention of our courts of law, have 
brought eminent persons of the legal profession to our aid in the 
solution of this intricate question. Lord Mansfield, years age* 
made an attempt to settle the point according to an ad valorem 
scale ; setting every horse down as sound in the eye of the law, 
whose cost or value amounted to a certain sum. This, of course, 
was law that never could hold in horse transactions. Lord Ellen- 
borough legislated with a great deal more knowledge of horse- 
flesh. The law he laid down was, that ' any infirmity which 
rendered a horse less fit for present use or convenience consti- 
tuted unsoundness ' — a law which, though it admitted of great 
latitude of construction, and to some especial cases did not prove 
applicable at all, was still a wholesome and practicable one in a 
majority of cases of dispute. Lord Tenterden made but little 
improvement on it when he pronounced every horse unsound thnt 
'could not go through the same labor as before the existence 
of the defect or blemish in dispute, and with the sane degrees of 
facility.' 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 403 

** Professor Coleman's notion was, that ' every horse 01 ght to be 
considered sound that could perform the ordinary duties of an 
ordinary horse.' This definition is open to the same objections 
as the judicial laws of Lords Mansfield and Tenterden: mange, 
diseases of the eye, (so long as they are confined to one eye,) 
nay, glanders * and farcy even, in certain stages, and some other 
diseases, do not incapacitate a horse, and yet they all amount to 
palpable unsoundness. On the other hand, many a horse, from 
age or want of condition, or from possessing a constitution natu- 
rally weak or washy, is unfitted for what might be considered 
' the ordinary duties of an ordinary horse,' and yet cannot be 
called unsound. Then, again, comes for explanation, what are 
to be regarded as the ordinary duties, and what we are to look 
upon as an ordinary horse; both presumptions equally inde- 
finable with Lord Ellenborough's standard of Jilness, and with 
Lord Tenterden's statu quo ' before the existence of the defect 
or blemish.' 

" The late Mr. Castley, veterinary surgeon to the 12th Lancers, 
— whose opinions on this subject, as well as on every other, his 
habits of acute and accurate observation rendered of peculiar 
value to us, — felt inclined, to use his own words, ' to steer a 
middle course ; ' in accordance with which he ' ventured on the 
following propositions : ' — ' 1st. That all recognized disease con- 
stitutes unsoundness for the time being.' ' 2dly. That changes 
of structure or an altered condition of parts, and derangement or 
impairment of function, are allowed by all to be our two great 
landmarks in conducting examinations for soundness.' The first 
of these ' propositions ' is fairly inclusible in the second ; all dis- 
ease consisting either in change of structure or change of func- 
tion, and most disease involving both these changes. And in re- 
gard to the second rule for our guidance, obvious and decisive as 
are changes of structure combined with deranged or impaired 
function of parts in general, there are still some of that trifling 

* A large carrying firm on the western road had, many years since, a great 
number of glandered horses working in entire teams : these horses were bok^ht 
in young, at high prices, but from neglect and mismanagement soon became in- 
fected with the disease, and in this state worked on, in some instances, for 
mauy years 



404 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

or uninflaential nature that can hardly, when they do exist, b« 
looked upon as unsoundness : such are chronic or partial diseases 
of certain parts or organs, the obliteration of a vein * or artery, 
for example, the conversion of fibro-cartilage into bone, as in 
splent, chronic or partial disease of such an organ as the liver 
Ace, &c. 

" Our present inquiry into the nature of soundness being re- 
stricted to its relation to lameness, and it being our intention here 
to deal with broad principles, leaving the nicer shades of distinc- 
tion for consideration until such time as we come to treat of par- 
ticular lamenesses, we may safely say that, — 

" 1. Every horse showing lameness must be pronounced un- 
sound; although the converse of this, as a fundamental principle, 
will by no means hold good, every horse not showing lameness not 
necessarily being (considered as) a sound horse. For instance, 
a horse shall have a spavin, or a curb, or a swollen back sinew, 
and still evince no lameness, even though he may show marks of 
having been fired or blistered for the same, and so give us every 
reason to believe that formerly he has experienced actual lame- 
ness from one or other of these defects. Would, however, any 
veterinary surgeon, under such circumstances, give a certificate 
of soundness ? If he did, it must be qualified in a manner that 
would little induce any person to purchase such a horse, unless 
at a price consonant with the evident reduction of his value. It 
will be requisite, therefore, for us to say, not simply that every 
lame horse is unsound, but to add the words, or that has that 
about him which is likely on work to render him lame. This wilL 
it is true, open the door to difference of opinion and equivoca- 
tion. There may, as we have seen, epring up two opinions 
concerning the presence even of lameness. There will in more 
cases be two opinions concerning that which is accounted to be 
the precursor of lameness, or have a tendency at some period, 
proximate or remote, to produce lameness ; all which differences 
ure best got r'd of by reference to the ablest veterinary advice. 
There will be less diversity of opinion among professional men 



* "It has happened, however, that a horse has been returned after purchase 
is • UDsrund ' in consequence of a lost (jugular) vein." 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 405 

than among others, and the more skilful and respectable the pro- 
fessional persons are, the greater will be the probability of a 
happy unison in their views of the case. To lay duwn any statute 
law which shall meet such cases as these, is, from the very nature 
of vital structures and functions, totally an impossible matter. 

" We ought to be able to establish it as an axiom, although it 
may prove one not unassailable by argument, that a lame h*rm 
is an unsound horse. It might be objected, for example, that a 
horse having a stone in his foot — than which nothing, for the 
time, renders a horse more lame — should be regarded as un- 
sound ; and yet by this rule he must be so considered so long as 
he continues to go lame, though as sound from the moment that 
the stone is removed. The shoe ' nailed on too tight ' furnishes 
another similar example. A horse, quite sound, enters a forge 
to be shod, and comes out going, as grooms call it, ' scrambling, 
i. e., lame ; he is, in fact, no longer a sound horse : take him back, 
however, into the forge, and remove his shoes, nail them on ' easy,' 
and, if not completely restored to soundness, he is thereby evi- 
dently so much relieved as to give pretty fair earnest of his be- 
coming well or as sound as ever by the next or the following 
day. It may be said, and we quite agree in the reply, that such 
trivial points as these are not likely to come before us for de- 
cision, or to cause us any trouble if they do : still it is right we 
should be armed on all sides to defend that law which we, as pro- 
fessional men, deem it wholesome and just to lay down ; viz., that 
every horse going lame — no matter from what cause — ought 
to be pronounced unsound. 

" If any real objection can be urged to the institution of such a 
law, one presents itself in the case of a horse that is lame at one 
time and sound at another. For instance, a horse shall have a 
frush, of which he shall flinch or go palpably lame every time 
. e happens to tread upon a stone, or whenever he goes upon 
Lird, uneven surfaces ; though at other times, upon soft ground 
or upon turf, he shall appear quite sound. This horse, we think, 
stands, in respect to the question of soundness, altogether in a 
different position from either the stone-in-the-foot or the tight- 
shoe case : here is disease — demonstrable disease ; and although 
it gives rise but occasionally to lameness, still, as lameness is at 



406 THE MODERN HOUSE DOCTOR. 

times the result, we hold that the horse ought to be accounted 
unsound. The spavin — in certain forms — affords another ex- 
ample of temporary or transitory lameness. A spavined horse 
shall come excessively lame out of his stable in the morning, but 
after having gone a while and waxed warm, shall no longer ex- 
hibit lameness, or even stiffness of his hock. In accordance with 
the laws of the judges, and with that of our late professor, 
(Coleman,) such a horse being not ' less fit for present use or 
convenience/ being f able to go through the same labor as before 
the defect or blemish,' able to perform the ' ordinary duties of an 
ordinary horse,' — such a horse, we repeat, must be pronounced, 
so long as he continues in this aptitude, to be sound ; whereas, 
however much we may differ concerning other points, we believe 
all veterinarians will concur with us in opinion in declaring the 
occasionally lame spavined — if not the lame frushed — horse 
to be unsound, notwithstanding his redeeming quality of becom- 
ing sound on work, and of continuing so to the end of that work. 
" However strong we may feel ourselves in our axiom — that a 
lame horse must be accounted unsound — the moment, as we ob- 
served before, we attempt the converse of it, viz., that every 
horse free from lameness is (as respects the question of lameness) 
to be held as sound, we change into a position most infirm and 
untenable. All sorts of diseases and defects stare us in the face, 
which, though not the immediate producers of lameness, too 
surely, in our minds, betoken its approach, waiting only for work 
or other exciting cause for its development ; and with such be- 
tokenment before us, it is quite impossible we can, with any show 
of reason or equity, pronounce the horse having them, notwith- 
standing he at the time goes free from lameness, to be virtually a 
sound horse. For how can we in conscience call that horse 
sound that we know has that about him which will probably — 
nay, certainly — cause him to become lame the first long or heavy 
clay's work he is put to perform ? As well might we call an ap- 
ple or a pear sound which we know to be rotten at the core. 
And yet, strictly and literally speaking, the animal goes sound — 
is as sound in action to appearance as is the rotten apple or pear. 
In cases where so much difficulty, nay, impossibility, presents it- 
tell' to the drawing of a distinction between the two opposite and 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 40/ 

(as we may call them) abhorrent states of soundness and un- 
soundness, it has struck us some good might arise from a di- 
vision of unsoundness into actual and prospective ; the latter de- 
nomination indicating a state of transient or trustless soundness. 
Notwithstanding a horse may be free from lameness, may go 
sound, yet, so long as he has that about him which will probably 
or surely render him lame the first time he is put to hard woik, 
he is virtually an unsound horse, in honesty unwarrantable • and 
the best denomination we are able to find for such a failable con- 
dition — a sort of intermediate state between soundness and un«> 
soundness — is prospective unsoundness. So far as abstract ac- 
tion is concerned, the horse, it is true, must be regarded as 
sound ; although that which he has upon him, making him liable 
or certain to become lame whenever he is put to excess of action 
or work, certainly stands in the way of any warranty of sound* 
ness being given. 

" Prospective unsoundness, however, although it relieves us from 
the necessity of doing that which no professional man conscien- 
tiously can do in very many of the subjects brought before him, 
viz., of pronouncing the horse either actually sound or unsound, 
yet unfortunately it opens a door through which crowds of cases, 
really doubtful in their character or rendered so by the variety 
of opinions given on them, are ready to be forced in, and made 
to perplex us in coming to any proper or judicious selection of 
them. One horse has manifest disease, in some form or another, 
as the cause of his being pronounced likely or certain to go lame 
at no very remote period : his case admits of no question. But 
another horse has — no disease — only a malformation, a defor* 
mity, or misshapenness, the result of which is weakness of limb, 
and consequent liability to failure — to lameness, in fact. A 
third horse has neither disease nor deformity, nothing but a ' bad 
habit/ and that is said to amount to unsoundness. .And it is the 
cases that come under one or other of these latter denominations 
— which are the offspring either of natural defect, of use or 
wear, or of habit — that, for the most part, puzzle veterinary 
practitioners in coming to judicious decisions on soundness. 

" To elucidate these observations by example : A horse shall 
have a spavin or a curb, or a swollen or fired back sinew, any 



408 THE MODERN HOUSE DOCTOR. 

disease, in short, from which on exertion he is likely, as our ex- 
perience tells us, to become lame : such a horse is prospectively 
unsound. But suppose he have a club foot, a parrot mouth, bent 
limbs, curved or curby -looking hocks, weak joints, narrow or flat 
feet, a hip down, &c. — all natural deformities or malformations, 
none of them coming fairly or popularly under the category of 
disease -— what is to be done in passing judgment upon them ? 
The equitable adjudication appears to be, as in the case of dis- 
ease, to declare that such of them constitute unsoundness as are 
probable or certain to give rise on work to lameness ; but, then, 
we shall experience difficulty, in some of the cases, in drawing 
the line between actual lameness and natural failing or weakness. 
A horse foaled with evident deficiency of physical power, partial 
or general, can hardly be called unsound ; though should he have 
that about him which renders it likely he will, when put to work, 
oecome actually lame, he ought, assuredly, to be pronounced pro- 
spectively so. 'Gutting,'' as the striking of one foot against its 
fellow leg is called, arise from whatever cause it may, is apt to 
produce occasional lameness, and, when it does so, is fairly re- 
garded as a species of prospective unsoundness. Springhalt is 
action so unnatural that some do not hesitate to affirm it to be a 
species of unsoundness, though it is a well-known fact that many 
horses so affected will do the same amount of work as it is rea- 
sonable to suppose they would or could do were they free from 
it. After all, as the foregoing observations will abundantly tes- 
tify, a good deal, in the decisions between soundness and unsound- 
ness, must be left to the skill and judgment of the professional 
man : he alone can unriddle the true nature of the case, and 
form a just estimate of the probabilities of lameness ; and, if he 
be but trustworthy and honest in his opinions, he is, beyond 
question, the preferable authority in such cases of appeal for 
ad rice. 

" When we, as men acquainted with the animal economy, con- 
sider the multiplicity of evils even quadruped * flesh is heir to,' 
and reflect in how many ways its health and action may become 
impaired, and how graduated down those impairments may be 
into states of indisputable soundness, we have no right to feel 
surprised at the intricacy in which we find the subject before us 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 409 

involved, no more than we have, in a strictly pathological ^oi Q t 
of view, at the comparative paucity of sound horses coming un- 
der our observation. The separation of monomania in man from 
oddity or eccentricity is hardly more difficult than resolving the 
question of soundness in its dubious or transitory form is in 
horses ; a great deal, after all, must be matter of opinion, and 
those opinions will ever prove best worthy our reliance which 
are founded on the widest experience, coupled with the best char- 
acter for honesty. No more responsible duty attaches to a pro- 
fessional man than that of giving a certificate of soundness : by 
it the warranty of the dealer or vender is either confirmed or 
falsified, the purchase completed or set on one side, the value of 
the animal either established or destroyed ; on all which accounts 
is the veterinarian pledged, not only to use his ' hundred eyes ' 
in making the examination, but also his maturest judgment in 
diving into the nature of any unsoundness he may discover, 
as well as into its positive or probable effect on the action or ca- 
pabilities of the animal, both present and to come. This leads 
us, before we close the subject, to say a few words on warranty ; 
by which is meant an indemnity against any unsoundness, or a 
pledge given — commonly in writing — by the vender to the 
purchaser, that the horse is sound and quiet, and possesses such 
and such qualifications. Without such indemnification or pledge, 
the law says, Caveat emptor — let the purchaser take the conse- 
quences ; the rule at law being, that every body who purchases a 
horse takes him at his own judgment, and has no remedy against 
the seller, supposing the horse to turn out, upon a future trial, or 
a more considerate inspection after the purchase, to be worth less 
(ban the sum given ; unless he (the purchaser) can prove he was 
Induced to purchase by representations false within the knowl- 
edge of the seller ; to fasten a fraud of which nature upon an 
experienced dealer in horses is, however, a difficult matter.* 
Warranties are of different kinds — express or implied, general 
or special. An express warranty speaks for itself. And as for 
an implied warranty, such a thing is hardly known, or, at least, 
rarely taken advantage of in horse dealing, the price paid, how- 

* Tonil'.n's Popular Law Dictionary, 1838. 

3;» 



410 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

ever high, not being legally held to be any guaranty of th« 
soundness of the animal; and any thing that might transpire be- 
tween seller and buyer, implying warranty, being worth nothing 
without proof, which, being procured, would render the transao 
tion, in law, tantamount to an express warranty. A general war- 
ranty extends to all defects and faults known and unknown to the 
seller ; but a special warranty is confined in its operation to the 
parts or particulars specifically pointed out. A hcrae may be 
warranted of such an age ; or, having some defect visible upon 
his limbs, such as a spavin, or a curb, or a fired leg, of which he 
doA3 not go lame at the time, that defect may be specified, and tLa 
horse warranted not (within any reasonable or prescribed period) 
to become lame in consequence of it. A general warranty, how- 
ever, affords no protection against such defects as are ' plain and 
obvious' to every body, and, consequently, to the purchaser; no 
more than a special warranty does against any which are not in- 
cluded or named in the specification. ' But if, on the sale of a 
horse, the seller agree to deliver it sound and free from blemish 
at the expiration of a specified period, the warranty is broken by 
a fault in the horse when delivered, although such defect was obvi- 
ous at the time of sale ; and as some splints cause lameness and 
others do not, a splint is not one of those plain defects against 
which a warranty will not indemnify ; and when a seller warrants 
a horse sound at the time of sale, and the horse afterwards be- 
comes lame from the effects of a splint, visible when the terse 
was bought, it is certain that the warranty is broken.' This rule 
will apply to spavin, or to curb, or to windgall, or, in fact, to any 
other defect ' visible at the time of sale.' For all warranties can 
only undertake for the animal's qualifications at the time of sale : 
none can extend to any subsequent period unless there be a 
epecial clause * to deliver the horse free from blemish,' and that 
delivery be by mutual agreement delayed.* 

" The form in which a receipt including warranty is generally 
written : — 

" ' Received, the 16th of July, 1845, of A. B., Esquire, the sum 
of ninety pounds, for a gray gelding (stallion >r mare) warranted 
Bound, and quiet to ride and drive.' 

• Tomlin's Law Dictionary, 1838. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 411 



u Or, ' Warranted free from vice and blemish, except ■ 
" Or, ' Warranted in every respect, except • 



" Or, ' Warranted to have been constantly driven both in singl« 
and double harness, to have carried a lady, to have been regu- 
larly hunted, to be a good hunter or hackney, &c, &c.' 

" Following the word ' except ' there being every opportunity 
afforded the (honest) vender of stating what he may know inval- 
idating the warranty, and thereby saving his reputation as well 
a*> screening himself from the probability of litigation afterwards. 

" ' With respect to what (oral) declarations of the seller will 
amount to a warranty, the primary rule for the interpretation of 
contracts in general is applicable. It depends upon the intention 
of the parties. A simple affirmation of the goodness of an arti- 
cle is a warranty, provided it (a warranty) appear to have been 
intended; whereas the sublimest epithets that seller ever em- 
ployed to recommend his goods to a credulous buyer will be re- 
garded as the idle phraseology of the market, unless an intention 
to warrant actually appear.' In fine, ' it is from the intention of 
the parties, as collected from the whole transaction, and from the 
meaning they appear to have attached to particular expressions, 
that the existence or non-existence of a warranty is to be in- 
ferred.' * 

" ' Let us now consider how the rights of the parties are af- 
fected by the horse being unsound at the time of the warranty. 
The contract being thus broken on the part of the seller, it is at 
the buyer's option either to treat it as a nullity, and return the 
horse, or to retain him, notwithstanding, and bring an action on 
the warranty. In the former case, the price paid is the measure 
of the damages he will be entitled to recover in an action ; in the 
latter, tht; difference between that price and his real value. If 
he offer to rescind the contract and return the horse, he may also 
recover the expenses of his keep ; but in order to do this, a posi- 
tive tender is said to be necessary. No notice of the unsound- 
ness need be given to the vender to entitle the vendee to main- 
tain the action ; nor is it necessary to bring the action imme- 
diately on discovering the unsoundness.' — ' But although such 
a notice be not essential, yet it is always advisable to give it, a» 

* Law Magazine for October, 1838. 



4J2 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

the omitting to do so will furnish at the trial strong presumption 
that the horse, at the time of sale, was free from the defect com- 
plained of; thus rendering the proof of a breach of warranty 
more difficult. Common justice and honesty require that the 
commodity should be returned at the earliest period, and before 
it has been so changed by lapse- of time as to make it impos- 
sible to ascertain, by proper tests, what were its original proper- 
ties ' " — Hippopathology. 

LYMPHATITIS. 

" Lymphatitis is a disease which, although without place in 
any of our systematic books by our professed writers, is yet, 
upon the whole, well known, and is designated by a variety of 
names. In Scotland, for example, it is called weed ; while in 
various parts of England it is known as felltick, thick leg, 
farcy, water farcy, shot-o' -grease, and a number of others 
which it is unnecessary to detail, and which, if detailed, would 
be perfectly impossible to understand. Fifteen years ago, a Mr. 
J. Henderson wrote a paper upon this affection, which the reader 
will find in the ninth volume of The Veterinarian ; and from 
that time to the present it does not appear that our knowledge 
of its pathology is very greatly increased. 

" Symptoms. — The disease, for the most part, commences with 
a shivering fit, though, in many cases, its existence may be so 
slight, and its duration so short, as not to be noticed by any save 
a careful observer. Generally the attack is very sudden ; the 
owner, or the servant in care, may go now, as it were, out of the 
stable, and leave his horse to all appearance perfectly well, and 
upon returning in an hour hence he will find him standing upon 
Ihree legs, while the fourth will be flexed and held high from 
the ground ; the pulse will vary in its beats according to the 
intensity of the attack, rarely, however, beating less than fifty, 
or more than one hundred per minute ; while the respirations 
may be fifteen or twenty, or even forty, in the same interval of 
time. If the affected limb be examined it will be found hot and 
swollen, and tender if pressed upon, which symptoms for many 
bours will gradually increase in intensity. Soon after crmmence- 



THE MODERN HOUSE DOCTOR. 413 

ment, a number of vessels may be seen running across the limb 
in various directions, of about the thickness of a quill ; they are 
the most numerous, however, upon the inner surface of the leg, 
where they appear to terminate in round or irregular formed 
masses, which masses are acutely tender if squeezed within the 
hand ; these prominent vessels are the inflamed lymphatics, and 
the prominent masses alluded to are the inflamed lymphatic 
glands. Sometimes the swelling extends from the junction of 
the limb with the body down to the very foot ; at other times it 
only reaches down to the hock, and when very severe a sort of 
dew exudes from the skin and lies upon the hair. 

" The coarser the breed and the older the animal, the greater 
the liability to lymphatitis. Young coarse-bred horses are also 
very prone to it, particularly if highly fed and under worked ; 
but in the youi:g horse, the disease, in the majority of cases, if 
not in all, quickly runs its course, and the affected limb becomes 
in time perfectly restored to its pristine condition, and if due 
precaution be taken the malady may not again manifest itself, at 
least for years to come ; while in old horses the diseased limb is 
seldom or never reduced — it remains permanently thickened, and 
the animal is extremely liable to have acute or sub-acute attacks 
of the same disease periodically. In the majority of cases, again, 
its action is usually confined to a hind leg, and that on the left 
side ; sometimes both limbs are affected, but never, that I have 
seen, very acutely so at the same time ; the left limb might be 
attacked, and some time afterwards the right one, but never both 
limbs simultaneously. I have also found that if the disease be 
treated according to the old mode, namely, by bleeding and 
purging, that horses so treated are prone to be attacked far more 
frequently than when treated homceopathically. 

" Causes. — The predisposing causes are simple, the chief of 
which are peculiarity of breed, and the regular giving of very 
nutritious food in too great abundance ; also previous attacks of 
the same disease, old age, and the sudden changing of the animal 
from a poor to a rich diet. The immediate or exciting causes 
we — heavy blows upon the limbs ; severe scratches and cuts 5 
sudden over-exertion ; working of the animal in water, or very 
wet ground: the sudden checking of old discharges from diseased 
35* 



414 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOK. 

limbs, such as grease, bad thrushes, &c. ; allowing the animal tu 
stand in cold draughts when perspiring freely, or checking the 
perspiration suddenly by riding him into a stream of cold water." 
— Veterinary Homoeopathy, by Surgeon Haycock. 

Treatment. — The best treatment the author knows of is, to 
apply diluted tincture of arnica externally, and give twenty grain* 
of hydriodate of potassa twice daily. 

ON THE GADFLY GRUB FOUND BENEATH THE SKIN 
OF THE HOUSE. 

"We know that the horse harbors several species of oss- 
trides, or gadflies, in his body, of which those best known are 
the oestrus equi, the oestrus veterinus, and the oestrus hcem- 
orrhoidalis, whose habitations are the stomach and intestines. 
But what we do not seem to be generally aware of is, that un- 
der the skin, even, larvce, or grubs, of the diptera family breed 
and give rise to the formation of tumors analogous to such as 
strike our notice, at certain times of the year, upon the bodies 
of our large ruminants ; and particularly of those who appear, in 
all other respects, to enjoy the best health. Redi and Huzard 
(the father) have spoken of these inhabitants of the skin of the 
horse. Bracy Clark, likewise, has mentioned them in his Essay 
on Bots ; but he regards them as identical with those of the 
hypoderma species which exist underneath the thick skin of 
the ox. 

" Dr. Roulin, of the Institute, in his Researches on certain 
Changes observed in domestic Animals transported from the Old 
to the New Continent, expresses himself as follows : ' In the 
hatos of L!a?ws, the horses are almost entirely left to themselves. 
They are driven up only from time to time to keep them from 
becoming quite wild, to take off them the larvce of the oestri, and 
to mark the foals with a red-hot iron. To what species do these 
American larvce belong ? As yet we remain in ignorance of 
this.' Last of all, M. Loiset, a celebrated veterinary surgeon 
oi the Department of the North, published, some years ago, a 
short Notice on the (Estrus Cuticolens of the horse, and has given 
a description of the larvce of this oestrus, of which we have, ac- 
cording to the text, made a full copy. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 415 

" A.t the present day, with nature herself before our eyes, we 
feel satisfied that this description, confessed to be imperfect even 
Dy the author himself, viewed as a branch of natural history, ia 
wanting in exactitude. And this induced him to introduce a 
portrait of the insect in question, with a fresh description of it 
more in accordance with the rigorous precision prescribed by 
science. 

" Its character once well established, we shall be able readily 
to resolve the question, whether the oestrus in point be identical 
with the hypoderme of the ox, or whether it constitutes another 
species to be added to the genus hypoderma. 

" The larva cuticolens (skin-habitant grub) of the horse has a 
cylindrical form, measuring more round in its fore than its hinder 
part. It is without brain or feet. Its body is constituted of 
eleven segments, including the one in which is found the buc- 
cal orifice, (or mouth,) which consists of a very small hole, edged 
with a black border, with some bristles around so fine as to be 
with difficulty perceptible by the naked eye. The foremost 
segment is of all the smallest. From this the segments, as far 
back as the fifth, grow gradually larger ; while, on the contrary, 
the five posterior continue to diminish as they approach the 
hinder part. These segments, examined upon their ventral sur- 
face, with the exception of the two last, are divided transversely, 
by slight grooves, into two unequal halves, each furnished with a 
great number of spinous tubercles, whose points, upon the ante- 
rior half of the segment, are directed backwards, but forwards 
upon the posterior half. Two cribriform plates, the sole organ 
of respiration with which the grub is furnished, are seated upon 
a sort of flattened termination of the anal segment. 

" Alike in this respect to the hypoderma bovis, the skin-habi • 
tant grub of the horse has, contrary to what is observed in the 
majority of cases, the inferior surface of the body convex, while 
the dorsal side of the segments is slightly concave. Such form i3 
in this manner exactly fitted to the spherical cavity which serves 
as a habitation for the parasite. It is worthy of remark, that 
the dorsal surface of the body is without bristles, save upon the 
two or three foremost segments. The general color of the skin 
is white ; the bristly tubercles alone being brown, more or less 



416 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

Bhaded. The skin its elf is translucid and vesiculous, as it were* 
In size, the larva is much below the hypoderma bovis, since it 
does not exceed an inch in length, while the larva of the ox 
oestrus, at full growth, attains to from three to four inches. 

" This difference, in itself considerable, is not the only one we 
have to remark. Upon the subject of our inquiry we do not ob- 
serve the six longitudinal lines which, upon the hypoderme of 
the ox, form so many series of tuberculous eminences, ranged at 
certain intervals from the first to the last segment. Neither are 
to be seen the five or six eminences surrounding the mouth of 
the latter; though, to make up for it, we find at the posterior 
and inferior side of the second segment a kind of transverse 
prominence shooting beyond the surrounding skin, and furnished 
with very small tubercles, which have no existence in the grub 
found in the skin of the ox. 

" These differences, united to those of size, suffice, in our mind, 
to authorize the conclusion, that the larva in question, though it 
belong to the genus hypoderma, constitutes a distinct species, up 
to the present time un described, to which we shall give the name 
of hypoderma equi. 

" No doubt we shall be asked, What are the habits of this in- 
sect in its different states ? Nobody, as yet, that we know of 
has investigated them. The larva alone being recognized, it is 
to that the few observations apply of which science is in posses- 
sion. We know that this larva is found principally upon horses 
that have been living at pasture in the months of July and Au- 
gust, and that through its presence are caused large indurated 
knots or buttons upon the skin, which are found in the greatest 
numbers along the spine, from the withers to the croup inclusive. 
These buttons, whose volume varies from a lentil to a small nut, 
have, according to M. Loiset, a shape inclining to conical ; and, 
by carefully separating the hairs clothing them, may be seen on 
their summit a narrow aperture, resembling such as a large 
needle would make. Compressing the tumor causes to issue 
from this opening a minute quantity of purulent serosity, which, 
after being removed, is followed, in the last months of the growth 
of the tumor, by a vesicular point, which is neither more nor "less 
than the posterior extremity of the larva. The efforts made to 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 4l7 

expel this are ordinarily ineffectual up to the period at which its 
growth fits it for metamorphosis ; when, by squeezing the pus- 
tule forcibly between the nails, a vermicular body springs livelily 
out, as though impelled by elasticity, and rolls upon the ground. 
This body is no other than the larva. 

" There can be no doubt but that these larvte feed upon the 
pus which forms in the tumors that serve them as habitations af 
to the moment of their transformation ; neither is there any that 
the bristles clothing their body serve to augment the secretion 
of the pus through irritation of the skin, no more than there is 
doubt that the animal makes use of them, like the hypoderma of 
the ox, for the execution of the motions required for his escape 
from his foul abode. Once at liberty, he sets out in search of 
shelter either in the earth or the dung, and therein, after having 
remained for ten or eleven months underneath the horse's skin, 
it changes into fly. 

" The larva that has been engaging our notice is comparative- 
ly rare in the south, but frequently found in the northern parts 
of France ; it is likewise common in Belgium and Holland, along 
the entire shore of the Baltic and the North Sea. 

" Save the phenomena already detailed, the cuticular larva of 
the horse occasions, according to M. Loiset, no appreciable mor- 
bid derangement. Nevertheless, about the period of its full 
growth, it appears to occasion some troublesome itchings, which 
give way to lotions of cold water, at times slightly vinegared, or 
else to some of the means employed for the destruction of the 
larva of the hypoderma bovis. 

" How long does the state of fly continue ? What are the 
habits of the insect after it has arrived at its final transforma- 
tion ? These two questions, as yet, wait for answers ; but it is 
to be hoped they will not wait much longer. We have for guar, 
anty of this the renowned seal of MM. the professors of on 
Veterinary School, touching all that concerns the interest of 
science of which those gentlemen are the worthy representa 
lives." — Translated by Mr. Percivall, from the Journal des Vet 
trinaires du Midi. 



4.18 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS USED IN THE VETERINARY 
PRACTICE. 

Compound for Wounds, Saddlegalls, SfC. 

Pulverized aloes, 8 ounces, 

" myrrh 4 ounces, 

" catechu, 4 ounces, 

" benzoin, 4 ounces, 

New rum, .1 gallon. 

Let tb3 mixture stand for two or three weeks, frequently shaking 
it, and filter through fine linen. 

Styptic. — (To arrest Hemorrhage.) 
Powdered gum benzoin, 

.'I ^ hate of P° tassa ' J each £ pound, 
Water, 5 pints. 

Mix, and boil in a glazed vessel, for five hours, stirring constantly, 
and add fresh quantities of boiling water to supply the loss which 
is constantly taking place by evaporation. This mixture pos- 
sesses the property of coagulating blood. 

Another. 

Tincture of mastic 

Another. 

Tincture of muriate of iron. 

Physic Ball. 

Powdered aloes, 6 drachms, 

" gentian, 14 drachms. 

Oil of peppermint, .... 5 drops 

Soft soap, sufficient to form a bolus. A little honey, or mucilage 
will also render the mass tenacious enough to administer. 

Physic Drench. — ( Cathartic medicine.) 

Pulverize i aloes 6 drachms, 

Sirup of buckthorn, .... 1 ounce, 
Tincture of ginger, . . . 1 ounce. 

Laxative Bail. 

Pi, *dcreJ aloes 3 drachms, 

sulphur 1 drachm. 

Mandrake 2 drachms. 

To be formed into a bolus, with honey or mucilage. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 419 

Another. 

Powdered aloes, 3 drachms, 

" mandrake, .... 2 drachms, 
Soap, 4 drachms. 

Groton Purge. 
Pulverized croton seed and farina are frequently used as pur 
g&tives by the profession; the former in doses varying from 
fifteen to thirty grains, and the latter from twenty-five to forty* 
five grains. 

Alterative Drench. — ( To change morbid action.) 

Sulphur, 1 ounce, 

Powdered mandrake, .... 2 drachms, 
Thin gruel, 1 pint. 

Antispasmodic Drench. — {For spasmodic action, either nervous 

or muscular.) 

Tincture of assafoetida, / _ . , 

valerian, \ ' each l ounce ' 

Sirup of garlic, 3 ounces, 

Gruel, 1 pint. 

Another. — {For spasmodic cough.) 

Balsam copaiba £ ounce, 

Sweet spirits oi nitre, .... 3 drachms, 

Sulphuric ether A drachm, 

Tincture of musk, .... J ounce. 

Half of the above quantity to be given, night and morning, in 
gruel. 

Tonic Drench. — {For weakness and debility.) 

Port wine 3 ounces, 

Tincture of cinnamon | ounce, 

Powdered goldenseal, .... 4 drachms. 

To be given in thin gruel. Should the bowels be torpid, emit 
the port wine, and substitute one and a half ounce of pale 
brandy. 

Astringent Drench. — (See Diarrhaa.) 

Diuretic Drench. 

Fir balsam £ ounce, 

Sweet spirits of nitre, ... 2 drachma, 
Tincture of assafoetida, ... 1 ounce. 

To be given in a thin mucilage of slippery elm. 



420 THE MODERN ITORSE DOCTOR. 

Nauseant and Diaphoretic Drench. — ( To increase the function 

of cutaneous exhalants in febrile diseases.) 

Powdered lobelia, 2 drashms, 

" bloodroot, 1 drachm. 

To be given in warm water, and repeated at given intervals. 
Stimulating Drench. 

Tincture of capsicum, ^ 

" ginger, £ each J an ounce. 

" cinnamon, ) 

To be given in gruel. 

Narcotic Drench. — (To relieve pain and induce sleep.) 

Tincture of Indian hemp, 3 dracnms, 

Chloroform, £ drachm. 

To be given in warm water. An infusion of poppies, or hops, ifl 

a good anodyne. 

Sedative Drench. — (To lessen arterial action.) 

Tincture of arnica, 4 drachms, 

"Water 1 pint. 

To be repeated, gradually lessening the dose. 

Cooling and Refrigerating Drench. — (For fevers or thirst.) 

Cream of tartar, £ ounce 

To be given in an infusion of lemon balm. 

Phthisical Drench. — (For Phthisis Pidmonalis.) 

Powdered iodine, 10 grains, 

" hydriodate of potassa, ... 20 grains. 

To be given daily, in a decoction of comfrey, (symphitium ojjtei 

nalis.) 

Vermifuge Drench. 

Aloes, 4 drachms, 

Oil of wormseed, 20 drops, 

Powdered male fern, {aspidium felix mas,) 1 ounce. 

To be given in one pint of weak soap suds an hour before feeding. 

Parturient Drench. — ( Given to arouse the uterus in protracted 

labor.) 
Spurred rye, {secale corntttum,) . . . . 3^ drachms. 
To be given in a decoction of bethroot, (trillium purpureum.) 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 421 

Antacid Drench. — (To correct flatulency.) 

Lime water, 2 ounces, 

Tincture of gntian, j _ _ each £ an ounce. 

To be given in an infusion of horsemint, (monarda punctata,') 

Dithontriptic Drench. — (For urinary calculi.) 

Lime water, 2 ounces, 

Honey 4 ounces, 

Infusion of sassafras, .... 1 pint. 

To be given daily, for a fortnight or more. 

Saline Aperients. 

(Either of the following is a dose.) 

Epsom salts, 12 ounces. 

Glauber salts, 12 ounces. 

Rochelle salts 8 ounces. 

Sulphur, 1 to 2 ounces. 

Demulcents. — (Intended to lubricate and sheathe mucous surfaces) 

Mucilage of slippery elm. 

" gum acacia, (Arabic.) 

" gum tragacanth. 

" Iceland moss. 

" benne leaves, (sesamum indicum.) 

" liquorice root. 

The mucilage is made by pouring boiling water on a certain 
quantity of either of the above articles, and stirring until the 
required consistence is obtained. The dose is ad libitum. 

Discutients. — (Medicines that are supposed to possess the power 
of repelling or resolving tumors.) 

Ointment of iodine and hydriodate of pOtassa, made thus : — 

Bayberry wax, ) . , fi m „ 

Mutton tallow, £■•••« eaCQ b ounces. 

J?^ 11 - 6 ^ * * * I ■ of each 1 ounce. 

Hydriodate of potassa, $ 

Melt the wax and tallow ; and when partly cool, rub the whole 
together in a mortar. This is an excellent preparation for en- 
larged glands, before they suppurate. The next best discutient? 
are, cold water, diluted acetic acid, soft soap, brine, and new rum. 
In fact, all refrigerants act as discutients. 

Rubefacients. 
Rubefacients are substances which, when applied to the skin 
of a hor«e, produce increased action in the part without blister- 
36 



422 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

ing : such are alcohol, tincture of capsicum, stimulating linimenta 
of various kinds, strong vinegar, and turpentine, mixed with lin- 
Beed oil. They are indicated in all cases of internal congestion 
in view of counter irritation : for chronic lameness, and to soften 
indurated and indolent tumors. 

Vesicants, or Blisters. 
The principal one used by the author, and several times 
alluded to in this work, is ^etate of cantharides, made as fol- 
lows : — 

Strong acetic acid, 8 ounces, 

Water 1 quart, 

Powdered Spanish flies, .... 3 ounces. 

Mix ; let it stand for fourteen or more days, and then filter 
through blotting paper. Used in cases of spavin, splent, ringbone, 
and callous swellings. The usual vesicant is the common horse 
blister, thus prepared : — 

Take lard, free from salt, twelve ounces ; melt it in an earthen 
vessel with two ounces of rosin, — taking care not to raise the 
temperature above that of a man's blood, — then add powdered 
Spanish flies, two ounces ; oil of origanum, one ounce : stir until 
cool. 

The part to be blistered should be shaved, and then rubbed for 
a few minutes with strong vinegar ; after wiping the part dry, 
spread on the blister to about the thickness of a dollar. If it be 
necessary to keep up the vesicatory action, let it be dressed 
daily with savin ointment. 

Antiseptics. 
Antiseptics are remedies which arrest decomposition and ex- 
cite the healing process in wounds ; among them we name pyr© 
ligneous acid, salt, charcoal, chloride of lime and of soda. 

Emollients. 
The best emollient for softening and lubricating a part if 
poultice of slippery elm ; the next best is tepid water. 

Digestives. 

Digestives are used for the purpose of hastening suppuration \ 
we have used a great many, but find none equal to, — 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 425 

Bar soap, 2 ouaces, 

Brown sugar, 2 ounces, 

Powdered bloodroot 5 ounce. 

Mix ; and apply by means of bandage. 

Fomentations. 
Fomentations are indicated in all inflammatory swellings, 
strains, and bruises, and are occasionally applied over the region 
of deep-seated inflammatory disease — located in the intestines, 
kidneys, throat, &c. The usual fomentations are composed of 
warm water, infusion of poppies, hops, and lobelia. They must 
be perseveringly applied, or they are of little use. 

Common Horse Liniment. 

Olive oil 12 ounces, 

Aqua ammonia, 2 ounces, 

Oil of cedar, 1 ounce. 

Mix. 

Sirup of Garlic. 

Take of bruised garlic, four ounces ; acetic acid and water, of 
each six ounces. Let the garlic macerate for five days ; express 
the liquor and strain it ; then add two pounds of white Havana 
sugar ; boil over a slow fire until it is of the consistence of sirup. 
Dose, two to four ounces. It is an excellent antispasmodic. 

Tincture of Assafcetida. 
Take gum assafcetida, six ounces ; pale brandy, one quart. 
Macerate for two weeks, and filter through fine linen. This is 
also an efficient antispasmodic. Dose, three to eight drachms, 
to be given in thin mucilage or gruel. 

Tincture of Capsicum. 

Take of powdered red peppers, two ounces ; new rum, one 
quart. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through blotting 
paper. 

Tincture of Arnica. 

Take of arnica flowers, (imported from Germany,) four ounces ; 
new rum, one pint. Macerate for fourteen days ; express the 
liquor, and filter through blotting paper. This remedy, in the 
proportion of one ounce to a pint of water, forms a good applica- 
tion for wounds, bruises, saddle galls, &c. The authur has used 



424 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

it with great success in amaurosis and other diseases of the eya 
of a paralytic character. Given to a horse laboring under in- 
flammatory affections, in the proportion of twenty drops, diluted 
with water, it acts as a sedative, and lessens the heart's action ; 
in view of producing effect, however, the dose must be repeated 
at intervals of four hours. It is useful also in ophthalmia. 

Tincture of Ginger. 
Take powdered Jamaica ginger, five ounces ; pale brandy, one 
quart. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter. Properties, stimu- 
lant and carminative. Dose, one to two ounces, m gruel. 

Tincture of Cinnamon. 
Take bruised cinnamon, four ounces ; new rum, one pint. 
Macerate for fourteen days, and filter. Dose, one ounce. 

Compound Tincture of Gentian. 
Take gentian root, two ounces ; orange peel, dried, one ounce ; 
cardamom seeds, bruised, half an ounce ; proof spirit, two pints. 
Macerate for fourteen days, and filter. Professor Morton recom- 
mends this as a grateful bitter. Dose, from one to two ounces 

Composition for Colic. 

Powdered cinnamon, "1 
" ginger, 

" cloves, > . . . equal parts. 

** charcoal, 
" slippery elm, J 

Dose, a table-spoonful, to which add one quart of boiling water. 
Let it stand for a short time, then pour off the clear liquor \ 
sweeten with honey, and drench the subject. 

Basilicon Ointment. 
This is a very good digestive, and is prepared as follows : 
Take lard, free from salt, beeswax, Canada balsam, and resin, 
equal parts. Melt over a slow fire, and, while cooling, stir con- 
stantly. 

Liniment of Turpentine. 

Take oil of turpentine, olive oil, of each equal parts. Mix 
This is recommended by Professor Morton as a useful digestive 
or rubefacient. 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 425 

Caraway Seeds. 

The most valuable remedy, and one which we invariably re» 
sort to for the correction of flatulency, or for tbe expulsion of 
wind from the stomach and bowels, is the above. Ap a carrni« 
native, caraways stand unrivalled; they also possess antispas* 
modic properties, to which, in the treatment of spasmodic colic, 
their efficiency has justly been ascribed. If they were brought 
into general use, to the exclusion of turpentine, gin and molasses, 
saleratus, &c, &c, so extensively used in this city, we should 
not hear of so many cases terminating fatally. Scarcely a week 
passes but we hear of valuable horses dying from diseases su- 
pervening on maltreated colic. In a recent case of spasmodic 
colic that came under our observation, the subject, a stud, valued 
at $175, was drenched with half a pint of vinegar and two 
ounces of saleratus ! The death of so valuable an animal has 
probably taught its owner a lesson not to be forgotten. If a 
man should be suddenly attacked with colic, would he be so in- 
sane as to swill down medicines which his own common sense 
would seem to teach are opposed to the cure? Would he not 
rather try a little peppermint water, ginger tea, or caraway ? 
And if so, why not give the same to his horse, when similarly 
afflicted ? The diseases of the latter require the same sanative 
treatment for their cure. 

There is not a more effectual or innocent agent in the whole 
materia medica, for the treatment of colic, than caraways. And 
this our opinion is confirmed by that of various eminent veteri- 
nary practitioners The only objection to their use is, that they 
are innocent — simple. " The horse wants something power' 
ful ;" he often gets it too; the remedy lessens not the disease, 
for that is only aggravated — augmented ; the vital flame, tLo 
living principle, goes out, and the animal dies a victim to our 
misguided notions. 

Caraways should be powdered and given in warm water, in 
doses of half a table-spoonful, and repeated as occasion may re- 
quire. Horses which, in consequence of deranged digestive 
organs, are the frequent subjects of colic, may be benefited by a 
weekly dose of the article in their food. 
3(>* 



426 THB MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 

Hydrastus Canadensis, ( Goldenseal.) 
This article has lately been introduced into our mate, ia medica 
It is a valuable tonic and alterative, and as all bitter medicines 
are supposed to be laxative, that property may with propriety 
also be added. Tbis agent may be used with safety whenever 
the nature of the case requires that these indications are to be 
fulfilled. Dr. McCann has contributed an article to the New 
Jersey Medical Reporter, (November number,) in favor of this 
valuable article. He " was led to the use of goldenseal by no- 
ticing its well-known sanative properties over inflammations of 
the mucous surfaces, such as aphthas of the mouth, &c. I hope 
that some of tbe profession will give the article a fair trial." 

Goldenseal possesses all the tonic properties attributed to gen- 
tian ; it is superior to that article, however, inasmuch as its ther- 
apeutic action is susceptible of wider range. It may be used in 
cases of local inflammation, when the latter article, in conse- 
quence of its stimulating effect, would be positively injurious. 
There is no agent in tbe materia medica that admits of a wider 
range of application than the one under consideration. As an 
alterative it ranks higher, in our estimation, than any single 
medicine ever used, and we feel confident that the veterinary 
profession will, in subsequent years, give this article a decided 
preference to the mineral alteratives. It acts very gradually on 
the system of a horse, improving the depraved secretions and 
excretions, especially in those broken-down states of constitu- 
tion supervening on hard work, bad management, and in that 
prostrated state of the system which sometimes follows the im- 
prudent use of the fleam, antimony, arsenic, nitre, &c, &c Its 
mode of action is less evident than its ultimate effects : it changes 
existing morbid actions, without any apparent influence over any 
particular function. Its manifest general effect is, to invigorate 
the system as a whole, and thus aid in removing disease wherev- 
er it may be located. The complaints for which we have gen- 
erally prescribed it are acute and chronic diseases of the liv<;r, 
and diseases of the mucous surfaces, in doses of from one to three 
drachms every twelve hours. In ophthalmia it may be used 
with decided advantage as a local application, in the proportion 
of half a drachm c f the powder to half a pint of boiling water. 



THE MOCERN HORSE DOCTOR. 427 

When cool, the clear liquor is to be poured off; it is then fit fo* 
use. Let it be understood that we merely refer to the agent as 
a local remedy. There are other conditions which require ful- 
filment well known to the profession, and without attention to 
which no case of ophthalmia could ever be brought to a favor- 
able termination. The conditions alluded to may be thus ex- 
pressed : Keep the bowels regular ; confine the animal to a light 
diet ; keep the head cool, and feet warn-. ; ventilate the stable, 
and confine the horse to a dark corner. 

Goldenseal, combined with an equul quantity of charcoal, in 
the proportion of two drachms night and morning, is of great 
value in dysentery, flux, and scouring, especially when there is a 
tendency to putrescence. The powdered root has been used 
with decided advantage, as an injection, in diarrhoea, and in fall- 
ing of the fundament and womb. It has long been employed in 
human practice, in ardor urinae, gleet, gonorrhoea, leucorrhoea, 
&c. Dr. McCann states, that " the ardor urinse. and discharges 
of mucus, have been entirely suspended, in every case, in from 
twenty-four to seventy-two hours. It is a perfect and perma- 
nent eradicator of the disorder." 

In fetid discharges from the vagina or anus, we have em- 
ployed it with decided advantage. The dry powder has been 
found highly useful alone, (although we prefer to add to it a 
small quantity of charcoal,) in obstinate ulcers and old sores. 

Goldenseal belongs to the class Polyandria, order Polygynia, 
natural order Ranunculaceas. It is an indigenous plant, grow- 
ing in different parts of the United States, but most abundantly 
beyond the Alleghanies. It has a perennial root, and an herba- 
ceous stem, from five to twelve inches in height, two unequal 
leaves, and a single flesh-colored flower. The root is tortuous, 
and from which arise numerous long fibres, of a bright-yellow 
color. 



A POSOLOGICAL TABLE 



FOR THE HORSE; 



ACTION OF THE MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES/ 



Aeaciae Gummi . . . . 

Acid Aceticum .... 

— Arseniosum ., 

Hydrochloric . 

Hydrocy. dil. , 

Nitricum...., 

Sulphuric 

Adeps 



Aloes Extract. 



Alumen 

- Ustum 

Ammonia, Hydroch. 

Liquor 

Liq. Acet 

Sesqui-car 

Spt. Arom 

Anthemides Florcs . . 
Antim. Potass. Tart. 

Sesqui Chlo. . . . 

Sesqui Sulph... 

Argenti Nitras 

iEther Sulphuricus. . 
Bellalon. Extract . . . 

Calx Chlorinata 

Camphora 

Cantharis 

Capsici Bacca. 

Carui Semina 

Cascar. Cortex 

Catechu Ex*.. ,.,,... 



ColcLicvn 



Internally. 
Demulcent, . . . 

Astringent, . . . 



Tonic 

( Lithontriptic, 

( Tonic, 

Sedative, 



Tonic, . 



( Alterative, . 
< Nauseant, . 
C Purgative, . 
Astringent, .. 



=! 



Antacid, 

( Stimulant,.... ) 

2 Antacid, J 

Diaphoretic, 

Stimulant, 

S Stimulant, .... } 
Antacid, ) 

Tonic, 

( Nauseant, . . . . ) 
( Diaphoretic, . . ) 



Aterative, 



Antispasmodic, . . . 

Narcotic, 

Antiseptic, 

Narcotic, 

5 Stimulant ) 

? Diuretic, \ 

Carminative, 

Carminative, 

Tonic 

Astringent 



( Diuretic ") 

•k Diaphoretic, . . [• 
( Laxative, • .•. \ 



Externally. 

J Antiseptic, ... ) 
Rubefacient,.. 5 

Caustic, 

5 Antiseptic, . . . } 

( Caustic, 5 

Sedative, 

Caustic 

Caustic, 

Emollient 



Traumatic, 

Astringent, . 
Erodent, .., 
Discutient, . 

Stimulant, . . 

Discutient, . 



Vesicant, , 
Caustic, .. 



Caustic, 
Refrigerant, 
Sedative, ... 
Antiseptic, . 
Discutient, , 

Vesicant, . . . 



.\ 1 • » r t . us Manual of Pharuiai ). 



ad lib. 

grs. x. to xx. 
f 3ij. to 3 iij. 
f 3ss. to 3j. 

3j. to 3ij. 

3j. to 3ij. 

5 iv, to 3 viij 
3ij. to 3iv. 

fSss. to f 3 j. 

f X iv. to f X viij 
3 ij. to 3iv. 

f 5ss. to 5j. 

S ij- to 5iv. 

3ss. to 3j. 

3 ij- to 3 S3. 

f3iv. to 5 vj. 
3 ij. to 3 iv. 
3 ij to 3 iv. 
3j. to 3ij. 

gr. v. to x. 

f. x. to XX. 
ss. to Xj. 
3 ij. to 3 iv. 
3j. to 3ij. 

3j. to 3ij. 



428) 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR 



429 



Copaiba 

Creasoton 

Crete Prepar 

Crotoa Semina 

Oleum 

Farina 

Cupri Amnion. Sulph 

• — Diacetas 

- — Diniodidum . • . 

■ ' Sulphas 

Digitalis 

Ferri Iodidum 

- — Sulphas 

Galls , 

Gen tianae Rad 

Tincture 

Helleboris Nig , 

Hydrarg. Bichlorid. . , 

Chlorid 

Biniodid 

Nitratis 

Oxydum 

Hyosciami Ext , 

Iodinium 

Lini Semina 

Oleum 

Magnesiae Sulph. 

Myrrha 

Oleum Olivse 

Palmae 

Rapi , 

Opium , 

Tinctura 

Petroleum , 

Pimenta Baccae.... 

Pix Abietina 

Liquida 

— — Nigra 

Plumbi Acetas 

Diacetas 

Potassa 

Potassas Carbonas.. 

Chloras 

- — Nitras 



Internally. 
Diuretic, 

( Antiseptic, • •• ? 

} Tonic, > 

Antacid, 

Purgative, 

Purgative, 

Purgative 

Tonic, 

Tonic, 



5 Alterative,... 

( Ionic, 

( Astringent, . . 

/ Tonic, 

( Narcotic, . . • . 
( Diuretic, . ... 
\ Alterative,... 

} Tonic, 

5 Astringent, . . 

I Tonic 

Astringent, 

Tonic, 

Tonic 



Alterative, 

5 Alterative, .... } 
I Cathartic, .... 5 



Alterative, 

Narcot.& Anodyne, 
( Glandular ex- ) 

2 citant, ) 

Demulcent, 

Laxative, 

( Laxative ? 

/ Diuretic, ) 

\ Antiseptic, . . . ) 

j! Tonic, > 

Demulcent, 



( Narcotic and ) 
( Antispasmodic, ) 
Stimulant, 



Stimulant, .... i 
Tonic, > 



Sedative, 
Astringent, . . 



( Antacid, . . 
/ Diuretic, . 
Stimulant ? . 
( Febrifuge, 
( Diuretic, . . 



:•( 



Externally. 



( Caustic, . . . 

( Antiseptic, 
Absorbent, . 
Irritant, .... 



( Erodent, . . . 
( Detergent, 

Detergent, . . . 

( Erodent, . . 
( Excitant,. . 



Astringent, 



Excitant, 
Caustic, . 



( Stimulant,. 
J Detergent, . 
Detergent, . . . 



Emollient, . 



Traumatic, 

Emollient,. 
Emollient, . 
Emollient, . 



Anodyne, . . 
Stimulant, 



Rubefacient, 
Rubefacient, 
Rubefacient, 

Sedative, . . . 



Sedative, 
Caustic, . 



::? 



Sedative, 

( Glandular ex- 
( citant, 



Refrigerant, .. > 
Antiseptic, ••• ) 



5ss to Sj. 
f3ss. to 3j. ? 

3 ij- to 5iv. 

gr. xij. to xxiv 
gtt. xx. to XXI 
gr. xx. to lx. 
3j. to 3ij. 
Sj. to 5ij. 

Sj.to 3ij- 

3j. to 5j. 
gr. xx. to lx 
3j. to Sij- 

3 ss. to 3 j. 

3 ij. to 3iv. 

3 ij. to 5 iv. 
3 ij- to 3iv- 
f3ss. to 5j. 

gr. v. to x. 
gr. x. to xx. 

3 ss. to 5 ij. 



3j. to 3iss. 
3j- to 3ij. 
gr. v. to x. 

ad lib. 
Oj. to Oij. 

Ibss. to fcj. 

Sij. to 3iv. 
Oj. to Oij. 



Sj. to 3ij. 
fjss. to Sij 
Sij. to Siv. 

3 ij- to Siv. 



Sss. to Sj- 

Sij. to 5W 
Sj- to Sij. 
* tf. to SiT 



430 



THE MODEKS HORSE DuCTOK. 



Fotassii lodidum... 
Ciuinae Disulphas... 

Resina 

Sabina 

6apo 

Sec lie Cornutum. . . 
Podae Carbonas 

Chlorinat. liq. 

Sulphas , 

Sodii Chloridum 
Spirit. Etheris Nit. ., 

Rectificatus . . , 

Strychnia 

Sulphur 

Terebinthinse Vulg.. 

Terebintbinae Oleum 

Veratrum Album 
Zinci Acetas 

Carbonas 

— — Chloridum . . . . 

Oxydum 

Sulphas 

Zin giberis Radix 

• Tirct 



Internally. 
Glandular excitant, 

Tonic, 

Diuretic 



$ Antacid, ) 

} Diuretic, ) 

Parturient 

{ Antacid, ) 

( Diuretic, ) 

Antiseptic 

Diuretic, 

( Tonic, ) 

( Alterative, .... J 
( Antispasmod., ^ 

< Diuretic, £• 

C Diaphoretic, . . j 
( Stimulant,.... > 
( Antispasmod., ) 
C Stimulant to ~) 
■? the Motor > 

C Nerves ) 

( Laxative, ) 

2 Alterative, ... . $ 

Diuretic, 

5 Diuretic, ) 

} Antispasmod., ) 
Nauseant, 



5 Astringent, . 

/ Tonic, ._ 

Carminative, . 



Externally. 
Glandular excitant, 



Calefacient, . 
Irritant, .... 



( Carminative & 
( Antispasmod. 



*i 



Stimulant,. 

Antiseptic, 
Stimulant, . 



Refrigerant,. 



::j 



Digestive, .. 
( Irritant, .. 
j Digestive, 
Stimulant, . . 
Astringent,. 
Astringent, . 
Caustic, .... 
Astringent, . 
( Erodent, ..... ) 
I Astringent, . . ) : 



gr. xx. to xx» 

3ss. to 3j. 
Jss. to 5j. 

£ ss. to *ij. 

o ij. to 3 iv. 

3 ij. to 3 iv. 

f 5ss. to 5 ij 
ftss. to Ibj. 

S j. to 3 iv. 
nj. to 3ij. 
fSj.to 5ij. 
gr. j. to iij. 

3j. to gij. 

5 ss. to 5 j 
f 3 ij- to 3;v. 
f 5 iij. to 3vj 
gr. xx. to xx 



5j to %%. 
3 ij. to 3 i7. 

Ifgss. to IS ij 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



4H1 



ABSTRACT FROM THE SEVENTH CENSUS. 

A Table of the Number and Value of Live Stock m the United States. 



< ff » 3 r .m <°°f3 rh b — 3 

< =•« = =. B » S c B S -° = 

g^iS=§- gjrg<g 
» a jS =■<" • 
£. 3. a'Sj" 5' 

3 5 



H>st H g>'? 



3 c " 



<ag 
"3. 5v3 



■g.s»; 



=■5! 



"^2 

2.2 HI 

? » I 



55052 
5 1 1.1 



<2E 

33 = 



to co co to cr. *— 1 cn — ■— -jci*joo — to — tnco.to.--J •j^-woi^ho .to. os to * 
1— ojxj tnj*i -^^pc^cojn o ocnto cn 00 o^— -jjxjo ^i J i^^j^j s ,j 3s J J"'j'\; 
^*t— 'cnloV'to'cn'co'ci'c:^— "tto. N cn"*.to.'o "ao"co — "cs^to. co^oo^o'co ©"bo""-''to'o'to~ 



V*K)CX> 

O >*» O OD -J "- 1 i 

*J t'O A P - Vl ^ d'! 'O ^ ^> X jj tO 

0©010tD«Or.(DWCQ*JW ~ 



A ,0 X yi ** O * T; vj , 



O »4: — — -to> tn cn dW 



gs 



3i CO .to. Ci — -^J Ol Cn cn .£.:r:C0CnC00CCna>OC0.to.t0.to. O ~J tO O CO ^ 



> 

3 £ 

= 2 



O-to. 



tO to 

J0jto.J© ^to-jto^CnjO 

co cr- to O 00 CO 



Cn to to tO — tO tO CO — tO CO tn — CO h-h- h- 

C A AUtC- O ■— ' (O -J C^ CO t3 •— ' 00 >— CO — CO 00 tO CO .to. CO CO 
w«-OJi^GwAOiA*J tOA CO — jsl CD CO JOJX> — Cn JXJOJTi .to- CO 

t-Vi'cn'riti-'Vj-' - — 'Vi'cnlo^'oo'fO'ioXi'cn oo^^o^o^'co'tfa.'ci'o^-'io'w 
CO -4 Cn M co ~J in cn 1.1 -^ u to ~J (3 *- co — M 1 cn JS (p 10 to CO CO CO to -J Cn 
C0-A01CC>tn3)-(»C5N-h-OWAiXK0WCO0ClrfkOAM0Dt000M0J 



82 



.to.cnOO*-*J.to..to. — co.to..to..to. — otn.to.C) 



. .to. i— < co co — co co 00 co o co at cotoooomoo 



o^-^yiioc-i 



> 0C 0D to. CO CO tO M — CO ^ C~. C". Cn tO O CO 



<CDCDOCOCOUiWCO*-«NJWH-oCnOO 



-*j jo co to .to- .to. cn 

Vl"tO~to"*. > o"co'A.'H- — % in.'^-1-~i k ^"tOCO^O"^— cn'oo 

-~ co (O co :r. cocnotO~JOojkOco 



So 



lCOCntO~JiOC/triCJlC^OC3Cn.&.CJC:o 



3 - 

J^COCn 

'to lo 10 
-J 01 00 

•— to to 



ta- fc- -nJ od"h- -vJ"co"h- 00 *- co co cntotn"co *- 'oo^-tu.N- mOWJ* 

w^.UCOcot£>.to..to.Oi— 'COCO— O-^tOCTiOOCO'— ' *JK*"" 

*j .to- ^oj^jto. jo crwojo '~^~'i ci j => ^S* wj^i^^J 3 J^J" 

"tVoo'ce'tn.'©^*^ V"^"— "cn"to"o"to"co"DD Co"'.^"cn"fO'o i-*'cO*C 
oo^coco — .^coco to to cocncoco to oo — tocn-to-ocnoc 



--1 to co 00 co •— • *j to to o\ cn -J .to. oo 
- -- .to. .to. oo 
""— "to"co 



J -j to O CO J*. 1 



iCnoox^oococn to Cn 

3-^100 — i— COh-tOCO 



-J Cn 
._ Cn «J 
tO C0*J 




* to to — ►— *- to £0 — — CO 

"^01- co >— > to cn cn *J co 

;"o"^"uj"cO~Co'to''— s ^*£»*&0*-***O , ^l , t» 



•to — -J — ^ 

JvJj- — O co^-i — _jojO oo_co 
'co'oo cn'ci'cn"*. "*n caoVfegtj 



S3 

o • 

ft 3, 



"According to the British Government Returns for 1850, the total number of horses throughout tha 
country was 839,250. The increase and decrease in the number of carriages and horses within the last ten 
fears is a remarkable sign of the times. Since 1840, the number of all kinds of horses throughout Great 
Britain has decreased 43,000. But while some have declined, others have increased in number. Of pri- 
vate riding and carriage horses (where one only is kept) there has been a decrease of 12,000, and of ponies 
700. Stage-coach horses have declined 4000; post horses, 2500; horses used in husbandry, 57,000; breeding 
mares, 1300; colts, 7000; and horses kept for sale, 500. The London hackney-coach horses, on the other 
hand, have increased, in the same space of time, no less than 2000, and so have the draught horses used in 
trade to the extent of 17,000 ; while those kept by small farmers are 13,000 more, Bnd the race horse* 40C 
more than they were in 1840." 



432 



THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



Pi 






c^ a, 

ta -a 
PS s 

EH B 

GQ >> 

5 

i — i e 
EH ^ 

ft 1 



CZ3 £ 

K is 

O N 
O 

1-5 



f 



«" 4 



H . 

og 

HE- 

Z 

C 

aa 



« 

O . 

6. v. 

Ed 

°£ 

w« 

z 

o 



Eg 

Km 



No 

Frontal, l 

Parietal, ,..3 

1 

9 

I 

I 

2 



Bones of the face, 



Dentes, or teeth,.. 
Bone of the tongue, 

Bones of the Ear, 



Bones of the crani- J Occipital 

um, or skull, (Temporal, 

Ethmoid, 
Sphenoid, 
Nasa' 
Ungius, 

Malaruni, 2 

Maxillaria, superior and anterior, 4 

i Palatine, 

Turbinated bones, 4 

Vomer, 1 

Posterior maxilla, 1 

Lacry nial, 2 

e Cuspidata, or canine, 4 

J Molares, : 24 

( Incisores 12 

Hyoides, 1 

{Malleus, 2 
Incus, 2 
Stapes, 2 
Orbiculare, 2 

f Cervical, 7 

< Dorsal, 18 

[ Lumbar, 5 

1 

Tail,...Coccygis, or bones of the tail, 15 

( Sternum, composed at birth of a number of pieces, 1 

Thorax, 1 True ribs, 14 

I False do., 22 

Pelvis, Ossa innominata,t 2 

'Shoulder, Scapula 2 

Arm, Humerus, 2 

Fore Arm, Radius, (and ulna, connected with the former,). . 4 

' Os schapoides, (one to each knee,) 2 



Spine, 



{Vertebra;, 
Sacrum,* 



Bones of the knee, 



Below the knee, 



Os lunare 

Os cuneiforme, " ' 

Os trapezium, " ' 

Os trapezoides, " ' 

Os uncii'orme, " ' 

Os magnum, " ' 

Os pisiforine, " ' 

' Metacarpi magnum, 

Splents, 

Sessamoides, 

Suffraginis, (large pastern,) 

Os corona;, (small do., ) 2 

Os naviculare, 2 

Os pcd is, 2 

Th i gh, Femur, 2 



Stifle, 
Leg, 



. Patella, 2 



Tibia,. 2 

(Fibula, 2 

'Astragalus, 2 

Oscafcis, 2 

Os cuboid es, 2 

Os cuneiforme magnum, 2 

Internal medium, 2 

External do., 2 

' Metatarsi, (or canons,) 2 

Splents, 4 

Os suffraginis, 2 

Os corona: 2 

Os sessamoides, 4 

Os naviculare, 9 

, Oa pedis, 9 

Total, 242 

Or. Hooper reckons the number of bones in the human subject at 248. 

* The bones in the sacrum of the colt consist of five pieces. 

t The pelvis of the young animal is made up of the two ossa Innominata, each of which it 
formed of two piece* : the larger i< called oa ileum, tiif smaller, in allusion u> the huinau 
peivit*. baa in'' i subdivided into two portions, named us Ischium and os pubis. 



Bones of the hock, • 



Below the knee, 



